Bait

Cornish film-maker Mark Jenkin’s breakthrough feature is a thrillingly adventurous labour of love – a richly textured, rough-hewn gem in which form and content are perfectly combined. A refreshingly authentic tale of tensions between locals and tourists in a once-thriving fishing village, it’s an evocative portrait of familiar culture clashes in an area where traditional trades and lifestyles are under threat.

Shot with clockwork cameras on grainy 16mm stock, which Jenkin hand-processed in his studio in Newlyn, Bait is both an impassioned homage to Cornwall’s proud past, and a bracingly tragicomic portrait of its troubled present and possible future. Having premiered to rapturous applause at the Berlinale in February 2019, Bait looks set to become one of the defining British films of 2019. A genuine modern masterpiece.

100% – Rotten Tomatoes
7.2/10 – IMDB

“In one of the most extraordinary movie experiences of the year, this Cornish-set drama unfolds in scratchy monochrome and jumpy, jarring shots, mostly featuring weather-beaten fishermen, and lobster pots, and nets and boats.”

“The film keeps you on your toes, sidestepping into unexpected places. Politically and cinematically, Jenkin is too much of an original to box himself in.”

Film Review: One of the defining British films of the decade – The Guardian