''Kelly + Victor'' is a 2012 romantic

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film written and directed by Kieran Evans, based on Niall Griffiths's 2002 novel of the same name. Starring

Antonia Campbell-Hughes Antonia Campbell-Hughes an Actor/ Filmmaker from Northern Ireland. She is best known for playing Natascha Kampusch in ''3096 Days'', and in Dangerous Liaisons (TV series), Dangerous Liaisons, most recently she can be seen as ‘George’ in h ...

and Julian Morris, the film follows a young couple embarking on a passionate love affair. The film won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer in 2014. It was released in the United Kingdom on 20 September 2013 by Verve Pictures.

Plot

Kelly and Victor meet on the dance floor of a Liverpool nightclub, both of them on drugs. They quickly leave the club and return to Kelly's flat where they take more drugs and drink whiskey together. While they have sex, Kelly chokes and bites Victor for sexual gratification and admits to him in the morning that she got carried away. Kelly's fetish is mirrored when she joins her dominatrix friend in whipping a masked man to earn some money, but she struggles to play the role of dominatrix and does not enjoy the experience. On a visit to her mother's house, Kelly finds that her mother has invited her ex-boyfriend, who is clearly still infatuated with Kelly but is not allowed within three metres due to a restraining order. Victor sets up another date with Kelly, telling her in the pub that he would do anything for her and that their relationship is something special. Later, Kelly ties Victor's hands while they have sex, chokes him and carves the phrase "K + V" into his back using cut glass. Victor tells his friends and sister that he no longer wants to see Kelly but is clearly still preoccupied by her. After returning from a party, Victor finds Kelly bleeding in the street after she has been attacked by her ex-boyfriend. He takes her to A&E and the two return home again together. Kelly again strangles Victor with a tie, him insisting that he will tap her when he has had enough. However, Kelly gets carried away and does not notice that Victor is unable to tap her. He dies from asphyxiation, leaving Kelly distraught and listening to a CD mixtape that he made for her.

Production

The film was shot almost entirely in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, with one sequence filmed in

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

Critical response

The film received positive reviews. Trevor Johnston of '' Sight & Sound'' magazine named Kieran Evans "the most exciting British filmmaker to emerge in the wake of Lynne Ramsay, Steve McQueen and Andrea Arnold".

Cast

as Kelly * Julian Morris as Victor * William Ruane as Craig * Stephen Walters as Gaz * Claire Keelan as Victoria * Mark Womack as Frank * Michael Ryan as Pete Tucker

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly And Victor 2010s British films 2010s English-language films 2012 films 2012 independent films 2012 romantic drama films BDSM in films British independent films British romantic drama films English-language romantic drama films Films based on British novels Films set in Liverpool Films shot in Merseyside Irish independent films Irish romantic drama films English-language independent films