Starfish The Film on Twitter shared the first photo from the Q&A. The first review for Starfish, currently having its world premiere in Edinburgh, has been shared on online, with some lovely words about the film, and Tom's performance as Tom Ray. Read the review in full on Kneel Before Blog.
Tom Riley also delivers a compelling performance despite most of his screen time involving him being underneath heavy makeup to show the transformation. He realistically conveys the depression and self defeating attitude that might come with an affliction. The arc he goes through feels natural and it was really effective to downplay his role compared to Nicola as it was really her story of coping with the situation...
...Verdict
A powerful and inspiring fictionalisation of a true story involving a terrible illness that affects a lot of people. Joanne Froggatt and Tom Riley deliver excellent performances showing the hardships that this family endures when trying to deal with their new reality. None of the facts are sugar coated and there are many powerful scenes throughout that really bring the point across. I do think that the film should have remained focused on Nicola’s story rather than trying to bring in an arc for Tom at a late stage but it doesn’t detract from the experience too much. If one of the aims of this film was to raise awareness of how brutal a condition Sepsis can be then it definitely achieves that. This is one that will stick with me for a long time.
Overall Starfish - 8.5/10
Summary Kneel Before...
excellent performances
really powerful scenes that make no attempt to sugarcoat the issue
an inspiring story that is very well told
