“A remarkable piece of filmmaking.”
“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes … but still I rise” is the unexpected mantra within Carol Morley’s latest film 7 Miles Out. It comes from the iconic poem, ‘Still I Rise’ by the formidable poet and activist Maya Angelou. This renowned poem is a symbol of strength for many in the fight against oppression; for Ann Westbourne and her bunch of ‘outsider’ friends, it is a piece of armour against the world and a defence against being 7 miles out from the nearest big city, Manchester, and its lively music scene.
Far from being a stereotypical reflection of teenage angst, the theme of combating oppression, grief, and abandonment reverberates throughout the film. Despite appearing as a teenage girl’s nirvana with a passion for infiltrating the creative world, the film places a firm foot on reality as it is based on Morley’s auto-fiction novel bearing the same title. Therefore, the experiences are personal and distinct from the standard coming-of-age tale. There is a grittiness and resilience embedded that demonstrates that Ann is very much a product of her environment and reacting to trauma. As such, the depictions of the era are cultural mementoes, which are painfully and thoroughly enthralling.
Ann is on the cusp of being a teenager when audiences are first introduced to her, but she is living in her cool older brother’s shadow. He writes on a typewriter and goes to London to interview musical celebrities. Morley accurately captures that sense of trying to move on from being an out of town ‘nobody’ harbouring those desires and displaying that desperation to be a ‘somebody’. Many audiences are likely to resonate with those feelings of longing to belong somewhere. Yet, uttering the iconic lines from Angelou’s poem as a refrain conversely creates that sense of belonging for Ann with her outcast bunch of friends.
Nestled amongst a superb soundtrack, which traverses that earlier ‘Cool Britannia’ period of the ’70s and ’80s, is a tale of the solidarity within female friendships. 7 Miles Out, however, eschews the popcorn and pastels generalisation for films concerning younger women. Here, the darker undertones manifest themselves in early scenes and never let go. Juxtaposed to this carefree portrayal of teenage life, where the biggest concerns are the unravelling of a physical cassette tape and the playground ‘mean girls’, fragments of the fragility of male mental health, discovering sexuality and teenage pregnancy are also evident. During the film’s era, all of those subjects were considered taboo – so much so that many of the characters cannot bring themselves to broach those topics, nor do they possess the modern day therapy-speak vocabulary to do so. This was an era where anyone different stood out, yet it was completely acceptable for male ‘flashers’ to be exposing themselves regularly, and for children to be pretending to smoke sweets resembling cigarettes.
Morley’s confident direction does not hesitate to expose these hypocrisies for what they were, and when Ann herself seemingly falls prey to the darker recesses of the human condition, we are guided by Morley’s unwavering commitment to allowing Ann’s voice to be heard in all of its messy states. These are the fully fleshed-out female roles that we hope will grace our screens more, and Lucy Halliday delivers an exquisite, naturalistic tour-de-force performance as the flawed but humane Ann.
7 Miles Out is a remarkable piece of filmmaking, in the sense that it remains authentic to the desire to improve the cards one has been dealt in life. Therefore, it creates a continuous sense of the oppressive external forces against which Ann battles. Morley is a rare filmmaker in that respect, as she filmed on location in Stockport, seven miles outside of Manchester, to provide opportunities to others who possessed no formal acting qualifications, and thus continues giving back to her hometown. Morley also demonstrates her determination to pull others up with her, as her crew tends to be predominantly female. In addition, she possesses an uncanny knack for locating and casting the next best talent; Morley provided Florence Pugh with her first role in The Falling (2014). Indeed, Halliday shows off her acting chops and proves that she is a rising star in the making.
Refusing to gloss over or to glamorise life’s highs and lows, 7 Miles Out will engulf audiences with its unfiltered emotions and depth of feeling. This is the soundtrack to the lives of our 16-year-old selves, in its full glory for all the world to see, gripping, amusing and heartfelt. Morley has done it again and fulfilled the need for onscreen representation, for the various strata of society to feel seen and understood. 7 Miles Out is that impressive, all encompassing letter to our inner selves, and provides a reminder that the power of song and written word can soak up life’s disappointments and free us from the burdens. This well-written film is an absolute must see, although at the time of writing it is still awaiting distribution. Hopefully this female-led tale, with its ability to encourage much needed mental health discussions, will be given an opportunity to reach its audience.