They are best friends and suit each other well: the lanky Arbor – on the go, short-tempered, cheeky – and the more docile Swifty, a gentle boy who knows how to handle horses. Arbor, on the other hand, is good at coming up with criminal mischief, whose booty even brings in some money at the junkyard. Here, they meet Kitten, the scrap metal dealer. Kitten entrusts Swifty with his horse, with which he takes part in improvised country road races, while Arbor feels left out and (once again) causes trouble. A theft leads to a punishment, which leads to a disaster...
Like her debut The Arbor, Barnard’s first feature film is also based in Bradford, in a well-defined milieu that is marked by unemployment, alcoholism and collapsing families. Impressive panoramas of the harsh northern English landscapes frame this story, which is told in a direct and straightforward manner and creates an almost tender closeness to the two protagonists. Two largely self-reliant boys, who helplessly try to assert themselves in a world of indifferent adults who no longer acknowledge the period of grace that is childhood.
