The seaside town of Jaywick Sands in Essex used to be a holiday getaway for many in the London area and its surroundings, but a creeping decay has settled into the place for decades now, and by the stage this film was shot in 2010-11 it was refuge to locals who had been there all their lives and newcomers seeking what those holidaymakers wanted for all that time, an escape from their lives. However, what they find is not some beach idyll but a town which has been labelled one of the most deprived in Britain, and with that a whole new set of problems, not to mention the damage that has already been done to them by their lives so far...
Directors Karen Guthrie and Nina Pope set out to make a documentary about poverty which did not simply wallow in depressing statistics but actually get to know the residents and bring their stories to a wider audience who might have otherwise dismissed the subjects as not worth the time they could spend learning about them. It was true a pattern emerged for the least well off, one orbiting around drugs and crime which ruined lives at whichever end of the problem the participants were, always bringing a melancholy tone to watching these people struggle to stay optimistic when it seems they have been given up by others as a lost cause, and those others include the authorities.
There were lighter moments, and the directors were careful to contrast the sad tales related throughout with images of cheery amusements, sideshows and frankly ways of frittering away your cash littering the town with their flashing lights and bright colours, but as the film draws on the more these came across as deeply ironic. From the paperboy who casually reveals he is an orphan since his mother was murdered by a drug-crazed boyfriend when he was younger to the owner of a newsagent's who was widowed three years before and has obviously never really gotten over it, making us worry his own drug problems are looming in the background, everyone here was shown plenty of sympathy, which in itself was something to offer hope in that if the directors could see the value in their subjects then maybe someone with the ability to help them can too.
About the most cheery fellow we see is the medium who arranges readings for the locals and what tourists there are with what sounds like some of the vaguest clairvoyance you'll ever hear, which to fit the tone may be a comment on the ephemeral nature of optimism, or might just be a medium who is never going to hit the big time with an act like that. Then there are the couple who have moved here to get over troubled pasts, often involving drugs and what could appear to be abandoned children if you were unkind, though seeing them you can understand why coping with kids might not be an ideal situation for any of those whose stories we are supplied with. When the directors, after establishing the "characters", return for the second half of the film to see how they are getting on, the answer is not very well, as they fall victim to the crimes of others and their own flaws. We leave them with many questions unanswered, hoping they can work things out, yet aware if the filmmakers couldn't come up with anything much, who can? Ambient-sounding music by Tim Olden.
