Screened at London Film Festival in 2015, Burn Burn Burn – the confident directorial debut from British filmmaker Chanya Button – is more than a typical road-movie comedy. It’s a sincere exploration of loss, grief and forgiveness and a voyage of self-discovery.
Meet Seph (TV’s Downton Abbey‘s Laura Carmichael) and Alex (Chloe Pirrie), who after the death of their close friend James (Joe Dempsie), embark on a road trip across Britain to spread his ashes – all the while still semi-accompanied by Jack via the comic instructional videos and messages he’s left behind. En route, they meet an array of outlandish characters who both help and hinder their quest, while facing difficult truths about their shared past and the secrets they carry with them.
Bolstered by clever casting in the cameo department (Sally Phillips and Alice Lowe are particularly hilarious highlights), Button injects great, crowd-pleasing levity into this very personal story about the struggle to embrace one’s true self and fully live.
