Directed by Mark Jenkin
Picturehouse, Liverpool
27th September – 5th October 2019

Reviewed by Colin Serjent

This is a highly unusual film in a number of ways, which suits me fine!

For instance, it is shot on an old 16mm camera using black & white Kodak film, which director Mark Jenkin then had processed.

Present throughout the 90 minutes duration are ghost-like fizzes and fissures, adding to its bizarre character.

in addition, in what you could describe as a well made home movie shot on a very low budget, it has dialogue overdubs – i am not sure why- and peculiar ambient noises and sounds.

The leading character is Martin Ward (Edward Rowe), a fisherman, but lacking the finance to buy a boat to catch fish which, to say the least, is frustrating for him.

He catches a small number of fish by casting nets from the beach and checking for fish caught after the next tide.

What further irks him, in the small Cornish village where he lives, is the influx of tourists who have bought property there.

Martin and his brother Steven (Giles King) are further aggrieved by being forced to sell their late father’s scenic harbour-based cottage to a family from London.

Director Jenkin adds to the other-worldly feel to Bait by inserting premonition snippets of events still to occur.

An aspect of the film which particularly caught my eye were the images of the sea, notably the ferocious waves.