Reviewed by Justin Bateman
Stars Tim Roth, Bill Milner, Kelly Macdonald, John Simm, Skye Bennett | Written by Irena Brigdoll
UK certification 12 | UK RRP £19.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 100 minutes | Directed by AJ Jankel
When schoolboy Michael (Milner) moves into a new home with his parents, he is initially unsure of his new surroundings, not least the dilapidated garden shed. For living in it is a strange man called Skellig (Roth) who eats insects. With his father (Simm) and mother (Macdonald) preoccupied with his seriously ill newborn baby sister, Michael welcomes the attention of curious young neighbour Mina (Bennett).
Despite his slight revulsion at Skellig’s eating habits and grouchy attitude, Michael is also fascinated by him and secretly begins to take him food and drink. Having developed an unlikely and slightly uneasy friendship with him, Michael then rescues Skellig from certain death when his father sets fire to the shed in a drunken rage. On moving him to a new secret hideaway, Mina and Michael discover that Skellig not only has wings but also possesses magical powers.
Part family drama, part fairy story, Skellig the movie is not unlike Skellig the character. Not easy to classify but largely intriguing. Because we don’t know any more about him than Mina and Michael, his mystery is maintained throughout, which helps as the story does sag a bit in the middle. Roth is perfectly cast as the cantankerous man-creature, while Milner picked up where he left off in Son of Rambow and Bennett provides solid support. John Simm and Kelly Macdonald are fine as Michael’s despairing parents but their parts aren’t really big enough for them to flex their considerable thespian muscles.
Perhaps the biggest problem with Skellig is that it doesn’t go far enough either in developing the drama within the family or in the fantasy element of Skellig himself. So although it’s interesting and engaging for the most part, there’s not enough emotional punch for the adults while children are likely to be left feeling short-changed by the lack of magic in what is clearly an otherworldly creature. For all the fine performances, it falls short of being a classic but is nevertheless a decently made and diverting story.
EXTRAS ** Interviews with Tim Roth, Bill Milner, Kelly MacDonald, John Simm, AJ Jankel and David Almond, author of the book from which the film was adapted; Behind the Scenes: Special FX; Make Up: Tim Roth’s prosthetic application in high speed. A very brief chat with the main players and a quick look behind the scenes. Quite interesting, just not a lot of it.