Family gatherings are pretty terrible. I know, we love our family and everything but most of us are just trying to get through it without it devolving into shouting matches. That’s why we get so many movies centered around reunions, family dinners, etc., because everyone can relate. If there’s one director who can take what we hate about these get-togethers and make them look even more miserable, it’s Ben Wheatley. Enter his new film Happy New Year, Colin Burstead.
Looking like the most mainstream thing Wheatley has ever done, and I’m including Free Fire in that, the films stars Neil Maskell as titular man who invites his family to a country house to celebrate the New Year, only to have things devolve when an estranged brother shows up uninvited. The cast includes Richard Glover, Peter Ferdinando, Haley Squires, Mark Monero, Sam Riley, Asim Chaudhry, Joe Cole, Charles Dance, Alexandra Maria Lara, Doon Mackichan, Sinead Matthews, and Bill Paterson.
Happy New Year, Colin Burstead has been making the festival rounds since debuting in London and played on BBC over the holidays. Wheatley is also said to be developing an extended TV series using the same cast.
