Bait

A Cornish fisherman (Edward Rowe) begins to feel the pressure as his livelihood is more and more affected by incoming seasonal tourists.

Bait provides us with a unique perspective on class politics and gentrification. It’s not a problem unique to Cornwall but Cornwall does seem to be the place that suffers the most from it. I visited out-of-season and some of the cute little villages are just bleak ghost towns when the sun isn’t shining, with most of the houses being owned by wealthy out-of-towners.

Shot on a hand-cranked camera, with sound added entirely in post, this serves as a testament to the power of editing and thoughtfulness when assembling a film. There’s a visual wit and fluidity to it that gets sharper and sharper as the film wears on and builds into this horrific tension that you can’t peel your eyes away from.

Jenkin also has a devastating attention to detail. Even a quick shot of a plastic tub of blueberries going into the fridge feels amusingly judgemental.