Neil Maskell is the standout performer in Wheatley’s drama of dysfunction, as a man inviting his family to a New Year party in the countryBen Wheatley’s Happy New Year, Colin Burstead is a hothouse flower of misery, sprouting dozens of resentment-buds under artificially controlled conditions.
It is a tense ensemble drama, with intriguing echoes of Alan Ayckbourn and Thomas Vinterberg’s Festen; Laurie Rose’s handheld camerawork is intimate and dynamic, and it is written by Wheatley himself with contributions from a really strong cast.First among equals is the excellent Neil Maskell, who appeared in Wheatley’s 2011 breakthrough, the horror nightmare Kill List.
Working with Wheatley, Maskell proved he is so much more than the geezer roles in which our industry might otherwise have confined him, and I almost wonder if, just as Leonardo DiCaprio is thought to be the acting-avatar of Christopher Nolan, and Johnny Depp
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