source: Bridgend

Bridgend tells the story of the true events that took place across the town of Bridgend and the tragic deaths of many teenagers who committed suicide. People out of the UK might not know the story very well and might have a failed understanding of this film. I feel the film tells the story very well and has and good cast members but would like to have seen a bigger look into the victims. This film no doubt upset many people including family member and might be a reason as to why it's never been officially released. Its not for those who are senactive to these situations and wouldn't say expect anything from it unless you want to learn a little bit more about the events that shock Wales. Visiting this town myself can relate to how the film is set and feel this was a very brave move making a film about this for all those involved.

This is one of those movies that you quite enjoy watching because the acting is good and you want to find out what's going on vis a vis the compelling and suicide-packed plot. Sadly you never do. It becomes increasingly ludicrous without respite. Shame. I thought it was going somewhere...

Thanatos is the drive to death and has often been referred to in recent literature in reference to humanity's drive to self annihilation, faced with seemingly overwhelming social,economic and environmental issues. Bridgend is its own way taps into this notion. It focuses on a group of young people who seem to have reached the end of hope and view death as their only "accomplishment" in life. Death has a tribal quality, its something that is worshiped as a group and dedication proved by taking life threatening risks, before the final act itself. The quality of acting is good and the visuals whilst austere, are well rendered and do help infuse the film with a sombre atmosphere. Where this film falls down, for me, is in its story department. Its really difficult to understand what its point is? Indeed, in some respects, it seems rather rhetorical in a rather sad and depressing, way. In any case, I'll leave it to you to judge the overall worth of this film. Its not for me but that's not to say you might not find something of meaning in its message. Seven out of ten from me.

It's a film about a series of serious events involving young people, and does them no justice. Someone trying to be clever, depicting them as a bunch of mindless yobs shouting at the moon, drinking excessively and trashing property. It lurches along aimlessly and I personally ended up feeling I'd lost an hour or so that I would never get back..

I watched this film after watching the you tube documentary that involved interviews with the real people involved. One of the boys who later went on to commit suicide and the parents and their feeling. Watching this movie was a complete waste of time. Although there have never been any answers to why this all happened the documentary was far more interesting and moving and thought provoking. Don't waste your time watching the movie.

I'm not sure if the director was inspired buy Dogme 95 but Bridgend makes use of natural light to tell a tragic tale. The camera-work is very intimate and the colors unforgettable. The acting started pretty slow but I was pleased to see that the main female lead could handle drama effortlessly. The film doesn't bog down with plot and has almost no expository dialogue. It reminded me a bit of Wild Tigers I Have Known in terms of nihilistic teens and wild animals and most people might find it "weird" but I left the theatre smiling. As for the suicide theme, the dialogue was a bit hard to hear it all, honestly, and the motives for suicide were not completely as explored as the characters' motivations for living. Fire provides a dramatic motif with every flame crackle shown and reflected on the wild, boozy, teens' faces. If you enjoy Gus Van Sant films and can sit through a fairly slow-paced atmospheric film then I think you will love this!

I'm not sure why this movie has such a high rating. It attempts to be "artsy" but just ends up being awkward and confusing. The movie basically just consists of a group of punk degenerates partying, drinking excessively, committing crimes, and doing bizarre things. Oh and there's some suicides. Random shots thrown in that have nothing to do with the story. The plot makes no sense. There's a few suggestions as to why these kids are committing suicide like cult-like activity, parent blaming, and mental illness (or supernatural depending on your view) but nothing is ever really explained or shown. It's purposefully vague, I get that, but what's the point of the film other than to show that continuous suicides are scary? There is a detective but he is pretty pointless since he never actually really does anything of use. The biggest problem with this movie is that it's supposedly based on true events but it does no justice to those events. The only truth is the fact of how many suicides there were which is written in text. The real story didn't involve a cult or even an exclusive group of friends. At most one of the teens who committed suicide knew like 3 others that did. Most knew one other person and it was a sort of chain that passed through not only bridgend but the entire County, so not exclusively bridgend. But the worst part is the portrayal that these kids were all degenerates who partied constantly and had no individuality. It is a disservice to show them in the way they did. The actual people were normal every day people. Some were happy with future aspirations for college and careers who made people laugh and contributed to society. Others did drink and have issues with the law. But the point is that they were individuals and not in any way like they were portrayed. On top of that it is insinuated that the parents of the kids are abusive or neglectful. The real parents that have given public interviews are clearly shown to be loving parents that were close with their children. I just can't imagine why a filmmaker would make the decision to portray victims of a real tragedy in such a negative and untrue way. It's completely disrespectful. If they wanted to create such a fictional story then they should have just called it something else and not used the notoriety of this tragedy just to profit from it. There is really no truth to this interpretation other than that there are suicides in a place called Bridgend. There is also no hope given in the movie at all. And what I mean is that many hoped this film would shed light on the issue of suicide and help the crisis. All this film does is make it look like it's inevitable, people are committing suicide and there's nothing anyone can do. How is that helping the cause? There is a documentary also called Bridgend that is much more enlightening and interesting. It brings to light real issues in the community like poor mental health services that could be fixed and prevent suicides instead of what this film shows: that it's a crazy cult-like group and there's nothing they can do in their depressing town but kill themselves.

Trailer—Bridgend

Bridgend