My Feral Heart

We don’t see many movies concerning people with disabilities and, on those rare occasions when we do, it tends to be about the disability itself, rather than the person. My Feral Heart changes all that.

Steven Brandon plays Luke who has Down’s Syndrome. He is very high functioning and lives at home with his elderly mother who he looks after, cooking her meals, bathing her and ensuring she takes her medicine.

Look enjoys this, as well as the things he finds on his daily jaunts to the local shops, items which he stores in his tin of curiosities.

One day however, Luke’s world is turned upside down when his mother doesn’t wake up in the morning and, subject to her wishes prior to becoming ill, he finds himself in a home for people with learning difficulties.

Luke morns both the loss of his mother and his independence, running rings round his appointed helper Eve, Shana Swash (Eastenders (TV), Dignity (Short)).

On one of his daily escapes, he comes across Pete, Will Rastall, who is completing community service nearby, and the two form a friendship.

Luke’s tin of curiosities and his walks aren’t the only secrets he’s keeping though as, whilst out in the fields near the home one day, he stumbles across a young, feral-looking girl, Pixie Le Knot (It Never Sleeps, Game Of Thrones (TV)).

As all around him his new world continues to change, Luke finds solace in his new friendships and someone new to help.

First-time writer Dunca Paveling has crafted something that is truly stunning, packed as it is, full of emotion, humour and joy. Director Jane Gull (Twitcher (Short), Sunny Boy (Short)) does a wonderful job of translating Paveling’s writing to the screen.

Gull frames this cold, hard landscape well. Showing us the bleakness of Luke’s new surroundings and the further adversity he must overcome.

Paveling has created a beautiful character study, one that, regardless of ability, we can all share in and understand.

Brandon is spectacular as Luke. The joy as he dances to the radio, the cheekiness as he convinces a fellow resident to keep quiet about his ‘indiscretions’ and the emotion as he fights are all laid out and he handles it all with aplomb. It’s an even greater performance when you consider this is his first time in front of a camera.

Both Swash, as the helper, and Rastall, as the friend, play their parts beautifully, adding to the emotion and storyline equally. But it is Brandon who steals the show.

Rastall has a story to tell but we never truly get to the bottom of it. We see the family conflict, we know something has happened there but how it relates to his current predicament, is left unsaid.

Swash comes across as caring and truly interested in helping the residents. She quickly forms a bond with Luke and is the one tasked with, for example, telling him about the birds and the bees.

My Feral Heart is a beautiful story, superbly performed. It deserves the awards and attention it is garnering, and should you get the chance, I thoroughly recommend you see it.