Lyndsey Marshal can't sleep through all the noise in this thriller that far too many people experience in real life - and Film Brain finds some unexpected humour...
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00:00Lindsay Marshall can't stand the noise in the British thriller Restless.
00:04Marshall plays Nicky, a care worker and empty nester who struggles to sleep after a group of obnoxious new neighbours,
00:10led by Aston McCauley's Dino, move into the house next door that belonged to Nicky's late parents,
00:16and play loud party music all through the night.
00:20Restless is the feature debut of Jed Hart, who also wrote the script as well,
00:24and this is a very effective and contained film, finding plenty of attention in a scenario
00:28that's painfully recognisable to a lot of people.
00:31Marshall, who features in every scene, is particularly effective as a woman who is at her
00:35wits end with the situation, as her requests to turn down the music are ignored,
00:39and then met with threats, intimidation and gloating taunts,
00:43while everyone else on the street doesn't want to get involved.
00:47McCauley's Dino is as selfish as he is unpleasant, claiming his mental health issues
00:51means he's free to behave as he likes, regardless of what he's doing to Nicky's own.
00:56The use of sound design is especially effective, with the pounding bass of the dance music
01:00through the walls contrasted by the classical tunes that Nicky listens to to calm herself down.
01:06And there's a few imaginarily surreal moments, like Nicky dreaming of being on a bed on a beach,
01:10interrupted by Dino as a drummer, and I think the film should have leaned into this more
01:14as Nicky becomes further sleep deprived.
01:17If the concept of warring neighbours wasn't British enough, what I think sets Restless
01:21apart for me is the dark humour running through it, and it is surprisingly funny.
01:26Hart does have moments where he releases the tension,
01:28most notably with Barry Ward's Kev, a parking enforcer who's an old friend of Nicky's,
01:33and his well-meaning but clueless responses add some much-needed levity
01:38to break up the dread and anxiety.
01:40Nicky's retaliations also provide some amusing nastiness,
01:43especially her revenge for Dino's dog mess outside her home,
01:47and aside from one whopper of a cliché with Nicky's cat,
01:51is far more engaging because idiosyncrasies defy the predictable,
01:54obvious plotting for this kind of film.
01:56I thought I knew where it was going, I didn't.
02:00The biggest of these is the film's ending, which some viewers might feel is a bit flippant,
02:04but I found absolutely hilarious, just a huge belly laugh of catharsis
02:09after all the discomfort and rage that's been built up in a memorable finish.