Scrapper (2023)
Director: Charlotte Regan
Screenwriter: Charlotte Regan
Starring: Lola Campbell, Harris Dickson, Alin Uzun, Laura Alkman, Ambreen Razia
Charlotte Regan’s debut feature, Scrapper, arrives in the company of other intimate British films that examine parental absence and the emotional lives of children. Comparisons to Aftersun are inevitable because both films are debut features by female writers-directors that explore family trauma through a child’s point of view. Yet Scrapper chooses a different path: it is more direct, linear and, in its small but stubborn way, hopeful. Rather than dwelling in ambiguity, Regan crafts a compact, character-driven drama that balances sharp humour with genuine heartbreak.
At the centre of the film is Georgie (Lola Campbell), a resourceful and guarded 12-year-old who has been fending for herself after her mother’s death. To survive she has constructed a fiction: an invented uncle lives with her and pays the bills. She is a tenant in a small flat, an outsider at school, and a West Ham supporter—an identity detail the film uses to humanize and ground her. Her life is upended when Jason (Harris Dickson), the man who once abandoned her and her mother, climbs over her garden fence and forces his way back into her life. His arrival challenges the compromises Georgie has made and confronts her with memories and unanswered questions.
Georgie’s initial reaction is suspicion and defiance. She has survived by stealing and reselling bikes, and she has developed a self-reliance that makes any offer of care difficult to accept. Jason is neither the villainous figure she imagines nor an instant hero; he is an unpredictable, messy presence whose intentions are difficult to read. Regan stages their relationship as a gradual negotiation of trust. Moments of humour and tenderness punctuate tense emotional beats, and the film allows the audience to learn about Jason in parallel with Georgie’s own discoveries.
One of Regan’s strengths is economical character writing. In just 84 minutes she creates two rounded, believable protagonists whose flaws and instincts feel lived-in. Georgie’s guardedness is convincing; her small acts of rebellion and survival are rooted in a child’s pragmatic logic. Jason, as played by Harris Dickson, oscillates between charm and instability, making him frustratingly human rather than simplistically good or bad. Their interactions form the emotional core of the film and provide the dramatic momentum that carries the story forward.
Regan experiments with form in ways that sometimes succeed and sometimes distract. Intermittent “talking head” segments—short, documentary-style interviews with neighbours, schoolmates and social workers—are used to underline the idea that “it takes a village” to raise a child. These inserts can provide quick humour and social texture, but they occasionally interrupt the film’s emotional flow. While the intention is clear and the devices add variety, they don’t always land with the subtlety the central relationship requires.
Despite these structural choices, Scrapper’s emotional honesty and tonal balance are strong. The screenplay resists easy sentimentality and instead mines small, truthful moments: the awkward attempts at domesticity between father and daughter, Georgie’s fierce protectiveness of her independence, and the slow, sometimes painful reconfiguration of a family that was never traditional. Regan shows an awareness of genre conventions and then bends them, allowing scenes to land in unexpected ways that reflect how messy real relationships are.
Lola Campbell delivers a standout performance as Georgie, capturing both the toughness and vulnerability of a child forced to grow up quickly. Harris Dickson’s portrayal of Jason is layered enough to keep the audience guessing. The supporting cast, though used sparingly, adds texture and realism to the world around the central pair.
In the end, Scrapper is a film about repair rather than resolution. It does not promise neat answers, but it does offer the possibility of connection and a sense of small-scale redemption. For viewers interested in intimate, character-led British cinema that treats difficult themes with compassion and candour, Scrapper is a notable and worthwhile debut.
Score: 17/24
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Written by Rob Jones
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