• Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Flickering Myth Films
    • FMTV
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Socials
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Bluesky
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
    • Linktree
    • X
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

  • News
  • Reviews
  • Articles & Opinions
  • Write for Us
  • The Baby in the Basket

Movie Review – Nowhere Special (2020)

July 16, 2021 by Tom Beasley

Nowhere Special, 2020.

Directed by Uberto Pasolini.
Starring James Norton, Daniel Lamont and Eileen O’Higgins.

SYNOPSIS:

A terminally ill man devotes his final months to tracking down a suitable adopted family for his four-year-old son.

“Where is my mummy?” asks a four-year-old boy during one of many heart-breaking scenes in new drama Nowhere Special. The youngster has noticed that almost everybody else at the school gates has two parents, sparking one of many awkward conversations his father has with him over the course of the movie. John (James Norton) tells little Michael (Daniel Lamont) that his mother “had to go” somewhere “far, far away”, but it’s a small fry of an admission next to the other secret he’s concealing. John is suffering from a terminal illness and doesn’t have long to live.

Written and directed by The Full Monty producer Uberto Pasolini, inspired by a newspaper article, the movie follows John as he attempts to find the perfect “normal family” to adopt Michael after he’s gone. He feels immense guilt at not being able to guide his son through life, even hoping that Michael will never want to know who he was, telling social services that would mean “he won’t need to remember how useless his parents were”.

It’s an emotionally fraught and potentially cheesy story, but Pasolini wisely dials the volume way down. Despite the intensity of John’s predicament, the movie is almost entirely free of histrionics. It focuses on the cold, hard realities of this situation, with John – a taciturn, tattooed window cleaner – exactly the sort of man who will never be willing to have a frank conversation about the maelstrom of feelings inside his head.

Thankfully for us, Norton is an actor with enough bandwidth to convey all of those emotions from beneath John’s exterior shell. He might be widely known for plum-voiced period dramas and wearing Bond-baiting suits in TV thriller McMafia, but this is a very different Norton. He’s not just concealed behind an excellent Belfast accent, but also a mess of tattoos and a sense of a man who has closed himself off emotionally to protect the impressionable young boy, obsessed with dinosaurs and the colour red, who relies upon and idolises him.

Norton’s bond with his tiny co-star Lamont means that Pasolini is mostly able to take a step back and let the actors power the thing, keeping the camerawork subtle in order to capture grounded, naturalistic work. It’s clear the two performers have spent a lot of time together and have formed a real bond, allowing them to trust each other enough to deal with scenes of exceptional poignancy. One moment involving a birthday candle is delightfully under-played, but leaves an indelible impact.

For all of the intelligence of the performances, though, the decision to rely on them over plot doesn’t always work – particularly when the story has to move away from their chemistry. A lot of time is spent moving between potential adopted parents and, while some of these vignettes are entertaining, it feels like a missed opportunity to make a more pointed comment about the failures of that particular system. Occasionally the movie discovers an interesting topic, only to move away from it. The same is true of Norton’s work as a window cleaner, with the intriguing idea of him being forced to look in on the perfection of others’ lives largely ignored.

Despite its occasional missteps and its stripped-down approach to some issues that could’ve been explored further, Nowhere Special thrives when it foregrounds the unique chemistry between its two leading men. It’s told as something of a love story between father and son, but one given extra poignancy by the fact we know it’s winding inexorably towards a tragic conclusion. When the movie is able to convey the weight of that tragedy and the sacrifice of a devoted father, it’s enough to bring about a tear or two. It certainly got a little dusty in the room where I was watching it.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★

Tom Beasley is a freelance film journalist and wrestling fan. Follow him on Twitter via @TomJBeasley for movie opinions, wrestling stuff and puns.

 

Filed Under: Movies, Reviews, Tom Beasley Tagged With: Daniel Lamont, Eileen O'Higgins, James norton, Nowhere Special, Uberto Pasolini

FMTV – Watch Our Latest Video Here

WATCH OUR MOVIE NOW FOR FREE ON PRIME VIDEO!

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

Brilliantly Simple But Insanely Thrilling Movies

Sirens from Space: Species and Under The Skin

10 Great Cult 80s Movies You Need To See

Gladiator at 25: The Story Behind Ridley Scott’s Sword-and-Sandal Epic

10 Great Action Movies from 1995

10 Great Forgotten Movie Gems Worth Seeking Out

7 Great Thrillers of the 2010s You May Have Missed

The Most Terrifying Movie Psychopaths of the 1990s

10 Great Movies About Twins

10 Reasons Why Predator Is Awesome

Top Stories:

Movie Review – Heads of State (2025)

Movie Review – The Old Guard 2 (2025)

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey gets a first teaser poster

10 Great 1980s Sci-Fi Adventure Movies

Movie Review – Jurassic World Rebirth (2025)

Movie Review – 40 Acres (2025)

4K Ultra HD Review – James Bond: The Sean Connery Collection

7 Mad Movie Doctors Who Deserve More Recognition

STREAM FREE ON PRIME VIDEO!

FEATURED POSTS:

Underrated Modern Horror Gems That Deserve More Love

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark Revisited: The Birth of a Horror Icon

10 Alien Franchise Rip-Offs That Are Worth A Watch

6 Abduction Thrillers You May Have Missed

Our Partners

  • Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Flickering Myth Films
    • FMTV
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Socials
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Bluesky
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
    • Linktree
    • X
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

© Flickering Myth Limited. All rights reserved. The reproduction, modification, distribution, or republication of the content without permission is strictly prohibited. Movie titles, images, etc. are registered trademarks / copyright their respective rights holders. Read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. If you can read this, you don't need glasses.


 

Flickering MythLogo Header Menu
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Articles & Opinions
  • Write for Us
  • The Baby in the Basket