Film No. 44 (2016) Bridgend July 13th.

Film No. 44 (2016) July 13th.  9.00 PM LUNA Leederville. 

"We keep ourselves to ourselves round here" (Sara (Hannah Murray) receives this mysterious answer to a question she asks about the reason why so many young people were killing themselves).

It wasn't until I researched the facts surrounding this fictional tale about an actual region of Wales and the town at the centre of the region that I got a grasp of all that was shown on screen in this extremely grim tale. Bridgend was made in 2012 but only released in 2015, a mystery in itself perhaps. 


The facts are these. There have been 79 reported suicides in the region of Bridgend (pop over 100,000) since 2007. An alarming number considering the population of this depressed region. The ages of the victims range between 16 to 45 and research has never uncovered any answers to the epidemic of suicides which seems to have gripped this small area of the U.K.


Director Jeppe Ronde did his research on Bridgend and the strange and disturbing statistics. This film, Bridgend, is the fictionalised depiction of his discussions with the people most effected by the suicides. The shortcuts Ronde takes in his narrative suggest the suicides occurred only in a specific peer group in a village named Bridgend. This is not a criticism but it did effect the impact Bridgend had on me.


After the death of her mother, teenage Sara arrives in Bridgened with her dad Dave, to begin a new life. At first Sara is reclusive and shy soon however she accepts an invitation to hang out with others of her own age but there is something disturbing about the peer group chemistry. Sara becomes mesmerised by the antics of her new "friends" and gradually gains her own security by becoming an active participant herself. And so the grim mystery is given air to breathe. It's grim, but the background to all that is Bridgend is fascinating.  7GUMS.