Jamie Thraves’ third feature film, Treacle Jr, is a low-budget endeavor that, while uncommercial, leaves a strangely lasting impression. The film was primarily shot in the picturesque neighborhoods of Dulwich and Herne Hill, located in South London.
The story follows Tom (Tom Fisher), a depressed middle-class architect who leaves behind his wife, baby, and career to live on the streets. During this tumultuous time, he encounters Aidan (Aidan Gillen), a kind-hearted yet irritating Irish drifter who takes him under his wing and introduces him to Linda (Riann Steele), his violent and manipulative girlfriend.
Since his promising debut in 2000 with The Low Down, Jamie Thraves has faced challenges. His second film, an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s thriller The Cry of the Owl, went unreleased in theaters due to a lack of critical acclaim. To fund the production of Treacle Jr., he remortgaged his house, but the effort paid off: it’s a reflective narrative about mid-life crises and finding solace in strangers, combining gruff humor with stealthy poignancy and an authenticity that’s hard to replicate.
This is London… or is it? Tom finds himself in London, soon dealing with injuries, poverty, and homelessness. Only one person seems to care…a man named Aidan, whose well-meaning nature is overshadowed by an overwhelming enthusiasm that can inspire a strong desire to flee. As Tom, the awkward figure, attempts to escape while Aidan attends to nature in a graveyard, he soon realizes that Aidan is like a boomerang—impossible to shake off.
Gillen’s portrayal of this energetic oddball, with his face often splattered with enthusiastic spit, offers a mesmerizing performance, both messy and uncontainable. Meanwhile, the subtler emotional range is shown by Fisher (The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz), an often underutilized actor with an eerie charm who typically lands quirky roles himself. Aidan’s challenging living conditions, including his daily mistreatment by the malicious Linda, threaten to derail the film, tying the men’s improvised friendship to her influence. Yet, despite the uneven moments, the film pulsates with uniqueness and vitality—offering both realism and comfort. Regardless of its modest budget, it’s a pleasure to witness Thraves’ return.
The film lacks depth in backstory, character development, and relevance to the daily lives of most viewers, making it hard to envision it making an impact at the box office.
Young viewers might draw parallels with the impossibly energetic Donkey, who first annoys and then uplifts the grumpy ogre in Shrek.
Fisher faces the daunting task of crafting a personality for Tom with few clues available, pulling off the remarkable feat of making the bleak character continuously engaging, while Gillen (who was also impressive in the lesser-known Wake Wood and recently portrayed a villain in Blitz) proves to be one of the most magnetic younger talents in British cinema.
by Helena Bryanlith
