Brakes

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Brakes

2016

1h 22m

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

16 Reviews

44%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Nine couples experience breakups before meeting someone new.

Kevin Maher

Times (UK)

By turns utterly charming and inherently shambolic, this no-budget feature-directing debut from the actress Mercedes Grower is an ambitious trawl through London love lives, with a bonus structural gimmick.

Rated: 3/5

Nov 29, 2017

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Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

Some of it - the mortifying scenes featuring the brilliant Julia Davis, for example, or the hollow sense of loss in Kerry Fox's sequence - is rather wonderful. Other strands seem under-developed ...

Rated: 3/5

Nov 26, 2017

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Sarah Gosling

Little White Lies

Charming and could easily have been brilliant, if only it had been more concise.

Rated: 2/5

Nov 24, 2017

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Louise Burrell

One Room With A View

The script is wobbly at times and certain scenarios feel contrived, but Brakes manages to be charming nonetheless.

Rated: 3/5

Feb 19, 2019

Full Review

Alexa Dalby

Dog and Wolf

A brilliantly conceived examination of that moment when relationships either work - or don't work. The end result is fascinating and unique.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 27, 2018

Full Review

Kaleem Aftab

Cineuropa

Some audiences may be left disconcerted by the abrasive aesthetic of a film shot over four years in different digital formats, but the form does match the content, as the images look as uneven, unclear and unpredictable as the relationships themselves.

May 14, 2018

Full Review

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Karl M

Interesting and funny take on relationships. It's raw, ad libitum and docu in style, which brings a sense of realism. We don't regularly get to see these formidable performers with the freedom to go off-piste. Loved every minute.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A series of sketches versus a cohesive film in and of itself, watch this as a love letter to London. As the media sanctimoniously wets itself over new work life balance, why they enjoyed lockdown, why the city is dead and so on; remember how silly, flawed, pretentious and funny life is in the big smoke. Great cast, great fun, great city.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Parts are almost relatable. However this was pretty much a pointless exercise. Waste of a good cast.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

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Mercedes Grower

Director

Julian Barratt

Elliot

Kelly Campbell

Maeve

Seb Cardinal

Karl

Juliet Cowan

Slika

Julia Davis

Livy

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Synopsis

Nine couples experience breakups before meeting someone new.

Director: Mercedes Grower
Producer: Mercedes Grower
Screenwriter: Mercedes Grower
Production Co: British Film Institute, Brakes Film Production
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: British English
Runtime: 1h 22m