True Things (2021/22)
Director: Harry Wootliff
Screenwriters: Molly Davies, Harry Wootliff
Starring: Ruth Wilson, Tom Burke, Hayley Squires, Elizabeth Rider, Frank McCusker
Love, romance and sex carry different meanings for everyone. They can appear together or separately, shaping identity, self-worth and social expectation. As these questions intensify in one’s thirties—particularly for women—the pressure to make definitive life choices becomes palpable: settle down, have children, find stability. Harry Wootliff’s film adaptation of Deborah Kay Davies’ novel, True Things About Me, attempts an intimate exploration of those pressures. It examines how desire, longing and social expectation can distort perception and erode a sense of self.
True Things centers on Kate, played by Ruth Wilson, a restrained and quietly intense woman whose life is disrupted when she meets Blond, played by Tom Burke. Blond is charismatic, seemingly effortless and dangerous in a way that both alarms and excites Kate. Their relationship quickly upends her routine—she takes time off work and makes impulsive choices on his behalf. The film tracks the push-and-pull between two damaged people learning to navigate intimacy after long periods of emotional exile.
Wootliff stages this story with a strong lean toward the surreal. Blond’s sudden appearances feel at times like the figments of a fevered imagination and at others like blunt reality. Dreamlike sequences, frequently tied to Kate’s inner state, are interwoven throughout the narrative. The intention is to convey psychological disorientation: how obsession and desire can feel hallucinatory. However, the execution often feels uneven. These surreal moments rarely coalesce into a decisive emotional or thematic statement, leaving the viewer uncertain whether the film aims to be a psychological thriller, a character study or a romance shrouded in ambiguity.
Ruth Wilson gives a compelling, nuance-rich performance. She inhabits Kate with a controlled intensity that makes the character’s inner turmoil palpably believable. Tom Burke complements her with a brooding physicality and dangerous charm that explain why Kate is drawn to him despite clear warning signs. Their chemistry—electric and precarious—anchors the film and provides its most affecting moments.
Where True Things falters is in its supporting elements and narrative clarity. Secondary characters, including Kate’s pragmatic best friend (played by Hayley Squires), sometimes feel underwritten and serve more as plot instruments than fully realized people. Several scenes rely on blunt or clumsy dialogue that undermines the quieter, more convincing emotional beats. Sound mixing issues occasionally distract, and tonal indecision—flitting between kitchen-sink realism and stylized psychological drama—prevents the film from developing a unified voice.
Despite these limitations, the film does succeed in capturing the unsettling magnetism of a relationship that unmoors someone from their ordinary life. The depiction of attraction as both exhilarating and corrosive is one of the film’s stronger insights. Composer Alex Baranowski’s score adds a restrained but effective undercurrent, accentuating the film’s mood in moments when restraint proves more powerful than exposition.
True Things raises important questions about autonomy, longing and the social expectations placed on women approaching middle age. It is ambitious in its attempt to dramatize internal conflict through surrealist flourishes and fragmented storytelling. Yet ambition alone does not guarantee resonance: the movie often gestures toward deeper truths without committing to a clear interrogation of them. As a result, the emotional architecture feels uneven—scenes promise revelation but retreat into ambiguity instead.
Ultimately, True Things is a film of contrasts. It showcases two strong central performances that make the story worth watching, while its formal experiments and incomplete supporting work leave it feeling unfinished. The film will likely appeal to viewers who appreciate character-driven dramas that blur realism and fantasy, and to those interested in performances that probe desire and vulnerability. For others seeking a tightly plotted or thematically resolved film about the pressures of adult life and love, True Things may prove frustratingly elusive.
10/24
