My Feral Heart review – life after keeping mum

A terrific central performance from Steven Brandon, a young man with Down’s syndrome, is the driving force of this heartfelt British independent picture. In a neat reversal of expected roles, Luke (Brandon) has become the care-giver for his prickly but loving mother. However, when she dies, the authorities ignore the fact that he can and does live independently and shunt him into a residential care home. A sequence in a car, in which the camera rests on Luke’s face as he mourns both his lost mother and lost independence, is achingly poignant and beautifully acted. The addition of the abrasive, discordant score is superfluous – everything the scene needs is in Brandon’s face.

Luke gradually opens up to Eve (Shana Swash), a pretty, perky care worker, and to troubled, privileged Pete (Will Rastall), who is doing community service in the grounds. Less convincing is another plot element – Luke finds a mute, semi-feral woman (Pixie Le Knot) in the nearby fields and nurses her back to health. It plays better if you read it as symbolic rather than literal – she is, perhaps, a wounded animal whose human form is a manifestation of Luke’s empathy and kindness.