Without

One of the twelve nominees for this year’s Sutherland Award (and surely a strong contender), Mark Jackson’s minimalist debut ‘Without’ doesn’t lack emotion and intensity beneath its slow-burning exterior. Newcomer Joslyn Jenson is endlessly watchable as a recent college graduate isolated on a small island community as she cares for Frank (Ron Carrier), a catatonic, wheelchair-bound old man, whilst his family are away. The initial slow pace of ‘Without’ may put off some, but those willing to put in the effort will be rewarded with a truly mesmerising, darkly comic chamber piece, bristling with psychosexual intrigue and repressed desire.