• Film

A Fantastic Fear of Everything

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Time Out says

Simon Pegg turns the knockabout mugging up to 11 in this resistible British indie pic whose myriad quirks swiftly become a liability. For much of the time, it’s a solo turn as Pegg’s struggling, super-scuzzy would-be writer finds his subject matter (a history of gruesome Victorian slayings) gradually filling him with creeping paranoia. Getting a meeting with a movie exec is his big break, but can he make it across town…or even manage a trip to the launderette? Granted, it sounds intriguing, but this first feature stands or falls on whether we buy into the protagonist’s fears – and we don’t. Pegg is allowed to play it for broad caricature rather than sympathetic character, while the would-be chilling home-alone horror frissons make little impact, leaving us trapped with a hyperactive nutter who keeps telling us what’s happening on screen, though we can see it perfectly well for ourselves. Exasperation eventually morphs into unrelenting pain, and there’s not a single, solitary laugh to be had.

Release Details

  • Rated:15
  • Release date:Friday 8 June 2012
  • Duration:100 mins

Cast and crew

  • Director:Chris Hopewell, Crispian Mills
  • Screenwriter:Crispian Mills
  • Cast:
    • Simon Pegg
    • Clare Higgins
    • Amara Karan
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