The Arbor

Bronwyn Walls

I have never seen anything like this. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in documentary storytelling. Barnard and her cast and crew make this story important by the way that they tell it. The perspectives offered are enlightening to say the least.

Emily

Devastating. In addition to reflecting the format of 'A State Affair', using actors instead of a straight documentary created enough distance between the characters and the viewer so as to not feel emotionally exploitative.

Kyle Lewis

Very experimental but completely works from start to finish. Very strange it was left off the Oscar shortlist.

Matthew_Lucas

Unique documentary uses actors lip syncing subjects' words to create a chilling portrait of a vicious cycle of generational despair. A mother and a daughter's downward spirals are mirrored in each other. One an unlikely playwright, the other unwanted and out of place. It's original style gives a searing glimpse into cycles of self destruction and how it affects successive generations.

Eirik Smidesang Slåen

Clio Barnard's documentary is a deeply disturbing, but fascinating portrait of the Dunbar family The film is unsettling and weird, - at times almost unbearable, but ultimately a very rewarding experience.. See it, you haven't seen anything like it!

globalposse@hotmail.com

Unforgettable storytelling. This hybrid, auto ethnographic, play/documentary is gripping and breaks all the rules of narrative structure and obliterates the four walls of spectatorship. Kitchen sink British theatre brought to your own living room. Call this film it whatever you want, it will have you thinking about creativity, mental illness, sexual oppression, addiction and race in a whole different way.

Alexander Dunkelberger

Documentary-drama hybrid about the cycle of violence and sickness in poverty and degradation. A unique setup lets for the subject matter to be explored in an original way, and in such a way as that it can show the horrors and tragedies of urban poverty in the U.K. Unlike anything I’d seen before, but not necessarily in a remarkable way. It does the job and delivers on its subject matter.

Morgan Ellerbrake

This was my first MUBI watch... not bad at all. Some elements of the film confused me. The lip synching was so well done that I had a hard time knocking it into my head that some of the voices were actually those of the people the actors were playing. Ultimately, I am impressed. I had never heard of Andrea Dunbar or her story and now have a new slice of cultural insight, which I appreciate. I would recommend.