FLIM
A DEBUT THAT WON’T BE CONSIGNED TO THE RUBBISH HEAP OF HISTORY
★★★
OUT 17 MAY / CERT 18 / 131 MINS
DIRECTOR Luna Carmoon
CAST Hayley Squires, Joseph Quinn, Saura Lightfoot-Leon, Lily-Beau Leach, Cathy Tyson
PLOT Foster kid Maria (Lightfoot-Leon) finds herself drawn to an elusive visitor (Quinn) — triggering a hoarding habit passed down from her mother (Squires).
PERHAPS IT COMES as no surprise that a film named Hoard is, well, disgusting. Everyday trash is one young woman’s treasure, and muck and grime communicate the extremities of humanity in Luna Carmoon’s prickly drama, which draws inspiration from the director’s own life. This is an uncompromising film that’s unafraid to wade in discomfort, for better or for worse.
In its bisected story, Hoard first introduces the young Maria (initially played by Lily-Beau Leach), whose close loving relationship with her mother (Hayley Squires) is laid bare in their “catalogue of love”. In the evenings, they rummage round local bins, hoping to find little treasures to adorn their home: a hoarder’s paradise where stuffed bin bags cover the floors, tin cans dangle from ceilings and unopened books are stacked immeasurably high. Squires is captivating as a hardened mother with so much love to give that it lines every surface, but she’s let down by a hammy, overly sentimental twist.
Following tragedy, an 18-year-old Maria (Saura Lightfoot-Leon) is now living in a spotless foster home, lazing away the summer after sixth form — when she locks eyes with Michael (Joseph Quinn), a binman visiting his former foster mother. Their chemistry verges on something primal, evident in the ways they chase each other on all fours and growl with hunger, suggestive of Maria’s sexual awakening. Their undefinable relationship is only compounded by the recent passing of Maria’s mother, causing
