True Things (Movie)

This character study from Harry Wootliff bottles the lightning of a torrid fling.Harry Wootliff’s “True Things” bottles the lightning of a torrid fling in its closely observed character study of Kate, a bored British social worker who feels stuck. Tom Burke plays a charming bloke, recently released from prison, who comes in for a benefits claim and ends up asking her out. “I will keep that in mind,” Kate (Ruth Wilson) responds, intrigued but trying not to smile.Wootliff and her superb leads fully inhabit what’s essentially an extended chapter in Kate’s life, at once pivotal and fleeting. She and her fellow have sex in a number of places; he earns a spot in her phone contacts as simply “Blond” because of his frosted hair. Kate gets attached, but (or is that because?) the man has a habit of disappearing. When he borrows her car for a week for unknown purposes, it seems to confirm the suspicions of Kate’s friend (a note-perfect Hayley Squires) that he’s a shady bounder.What makes the film’s episodic approach flow is the pulse-sensitive camerawork. It’s worth singling out, because it is the kind that is often described as “intimate” but rarely pulled off with such Maysles-esque aplomb. The cinematographer, Ashley Connor, knits together relations among bodies in space beautifully — and meaningfully — especially between Wilson and Burke, who exerts a similar hold here as his character in “The Souvenir” (in a different key and class).Wilson is able to bring a light touch to her teetering character, as we hold our breath and watch her face to see where Kate lands.True ThingsNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 42 minutes. In theater and available to rent or buy on Apple TV, Google Play and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators. More