Everyone

A great deal of drama is taking place inside a restaurant.

This feature drama follows the lives of several customers and a waitress as they dine in a fancy London restaurant and have meaningful conversations and arguments. The customers are split into groups, each table with its own issues. The diners consist of Rich (Matthews), a famous football player and his agent, Tom (Watsone), Sasha (Ella Bardot), a young model and her mother (Saria Steel), a trio consisting of a woman and two men, sitting next to each other, four siblings and a man sitting by himself named Jack, who strikes up a conversation with Ella (Mohsani), the waitress (apparently, Ella is the only waitress in that restaurant).

The well-structured screenplay alternates between the tables, constantly moving from one conversation to the other and the story takes place in real-time. Over the course of an hour-and-a-half, the viewer will get to know the characters and their situations and experience heavy drama and also some dark and adult humour. The atmosphere switches between awkward, light-hearted or serious, with the subjects of life-changing discussions including loyalty, relationships, family values and self-expression. In order to provide a clearer picture, a brief description of the conflicts at each table would help: Tom is trying to convince Rich not go sign up with another agency, Sasha forces her mother to follow her wishes, Rob (Mitch Hewer) is struggling to understand the relationship that is going on between him, a woman and a man, the four siblings have hard feelings between them and insult each other and Ella builds a strong bond with the lonely stranger. Although each discussion has its own subjects, they have similarities as they all involve some sort of conflict, or at least self conflict. It should be mentioned that an elderly couple is also present in the restaurant, quietly eating.

The characters are interesting and diverse when it comes to personality and opinions. Tom stands out as an angry football agent with an in-your-face attitude. Ella is the most uplifting protagonist and her positive attitude encourages her new photographer friend to rediscover his joys.

The directing includes many face closeups with the character making eye contact with the viewer. Junior Jackson is creative with the editing and effectively utilises wipe techniques. The dramatic music includes drumming and violin and successfully constructs an atmosphere. There is a part where the film turns into a black-and-white music video. Although the dancing and song during that sequence are to be commended, the whole part feels out of place in comparison with the rest of the feature.

This film is basically a collection of stories that take place simultaneously inside a restaurant and the result is intriguing thanks to the well-written dialogue, the strong performances and the themes that are explored, particularly self-discovery. The ending seems to indicate that even though people can have issues and differences, they can still be united.