Cast: Bella Ramsey, Ruby Stoke, Daniel Quinn-Toye Review by Carol Allen
And as summer camp films usually involve American teens, I was expecting a lot of sentimental soppiness. I have not forgotten Debra Winger dying so prettily in Terms of Endearment all those years ago. However, I was wrong and pleasantly surprised to find the film was made in the UK, is set in Scotland and therefore has its feet set more firmly in reality.
The central character is 17 year old Ivy, played by Bella Ramsey, best known for her role in TV’s Game of Thrones. Ivy is in remission from leukaemia after chemotherapy treatment and is angry and resentful about what she has just gone through. Her worried parents (James Norton and Jessica Gunning) sign her up for a therapeutic “chemo camp” for teenagers who are in the same boat and after a sulk or two, she agrees to give it a try.
On arrival her worst fears are realised on welcome day with the camp leader Patrick (Neil Patrick Harris) mouthing jolly platitudes at the new arrivals. And then there are sessions with the camp’s therapist (Shalom Brune-Franklin) with whom Ivy refuses to co-operate. But once she makes friends with Ella (Ruby Stokes) and some of the other cancer survivors, who are on return visits and who become part of her “gang”, Ivy starts to thaw out, particularly when she establishes a bit of a special bond with Jake ((Daniel Quinn-Toye) and they all get up to a bit of teenage mischief, such as secret vodka drinking in the woods, playing hooky at a funfair and snorting their medications like cocaine instead of swallowing them. They also at times share their experience of cancer with each other.
The title by the way refers to a weird dance Ella demonstrates tot her new friends and performs again at the end of stay talent show.
The story itself is a bit predictable but the up and coming young actors, who also include Earl Cave, Jasmine Elcock and Conrad Khan are all good and though moving at times the film resists any temptation to wallow in sentimentality and, despite the subject matter, is often great fun.
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