What shocks me about Sundance each and every year are the movies that completely flew by me. I’m not talking about the ones I knew were there but couldn’t attend. These are the films that I didn’t know were there at all, and might’ve gone to see. One of those from this year was Scrapper, a father/daughter comedy that does appear to have a certain scrappiness to it.
The film is led by newcomer Lola Campbell, who plays 12-year-old Georgie, a resourceful young girl living on her own in London after the death of her mother. Harris Dickinson, hot right now after Triangle of Sadness, See How They Run, and Where the Crawdads Sing, plays Georgei’s estranged father who returns and shakes things up.
Here’s the synopsis: This vibrant and inventive father-daughter comedy follows Georgie (Lola Campbell), a resourceful 12-year-old girl who secretly lives alone in her flat in a working-class suburb of London following the death of her mother. She makes money stealing bikes with her best friend Ali (Alin Uzun) and keeps the social workers off her back by pretending to live with an uncle. Out of nowhere, her estranged father, Jason (Harris Dickinson; Triangle of Sadness, Beach Rats), arrives and forces her to confront reality. Uninterested in this sudden new parental figure, Georgie is stubbornly resistant to his efforts. As they adjust to their new circumstances, Georgie and Jason find that they both still have a lot of growing up to do. Winner of a Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, Scrapper is full of spirit, humor, and formal inventiveness that sets it apart from much of British working-class cinema. Dickinson and remarkable newcomer Campbell imbue irresistible charm into this moving and frequently the hilarious story of two emotionally tangled people: a grieving kid thrust into adulthood and a father in over his head.
The film is written and directed by Charlotte Regan, and took the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, leading to Kino Lorber picking up the rights soon after. They’ll release Scrapper into theaters on August 25th.
