Brilliant and touching

Better Late Then Never

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Around where I work is pretty rough, it is a very industrial area, a lot of unemployment and the only places to eat for a mile in all directions is a Greggs, a McDonalds and a few pubs (all of them are usually busy). I mention this because to those form the UK who know the sort of pub where this short animation is set, it will be really accurate to see the terrible characters drifting in and out. The big-armed cackling women on a hen-do, the tattooed football fans out for a "large one", the old men who have been coming there for years and hate to see the way the old place has gone, the family on an evening out and so on. The characters are very well captured in terms of who they are and it is painful to watch because I have been in a few places precisely like this and it really does make you feel dirty to be in such a leery place.This is the downside of the film, because it is so accurate it made me feel like a snob, but this is a strength of the film and a weakness in me I guess. The whole thing is filmed and then animated on top of, so we see these terrible characters transform and shift into animals, objects, whatever as they be themselves – it is mostly clever and it adds to the context of the characters as it happens. Those familiar with the pub culture in the UK will find this an accurate depiction of some lesser (but not rare) establishments and the only problem with it is just how accurate it is.