Review - Scrapper

Scrapper tells the story of 12-year-old Georgie who's quite happy fending for herself, until the unexpected appearance of someone claiming to be her father. Stars Harris Dickinson (Triangle of Sadness) and first-timer Lola Campbell. Written and directed by Charlotte Regan.Scrapper is a miniscule-budget film from a writer-director who specialises in miniscule budgets.Charlotte Regan started making videos for local North London rappers when she was 15, and though she's graduated to short films, and now features, she sticks to that level of street-reality.Scrapper is about a 12-year-old force of nature called Georgie.The film opens with the old cliché "It takes a village to raise a child", which is immediately deleted. "I can raise myself, thanks", it now reads, and so she can. After Georgie's mother died, she lives alone in the house now. She goes out with her best friend Ali to pick up money by stealing bikes.The reason Georgie seems to have slipped between the cracks - school, neighbours, social services - is nobody thinks to doubt her when she confidently claims she's living with her uncle. Her uncle Winston. Uncle Winston Churchill.What makes it funnier is how likely it is these days no-one would question that.So there's Georgie, getting by on her 12-year-old wits, improvising when anything goes wrong, and also working through her grief at the loss of her other best friend, her Mum.Then one day there's an unexpected visitor.Jason must be about 30, but he looks and behaves far younger. He announces he's Georgie's Dad - a man Georgie never knew. He took off for Spain when she was born. And it's patently obvious to Georgie - and us - that Jason's pretty much a waste of space.Georgie and Ali try and outsmart him - which, let's face it, isn't that difficult. But Jason's a hard man to lock out of her life, and it soon becomes obvious that he's not going anywhere. So, Georgie has to reassess, wondering what her otherwise sensible mother could have seen in Jason, and more to the point, will he and Georgie ever make a life together?The hard thing about describing Scrapper is its unique tone - in particular how joyfully funny a film like this can be. Yes, it owes something to years of low-budget, kitchen sink, British drama - particularly Ken Loach and Andrea Arnold. What lifts it is the kids' perspective…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details