Two words - spare and edgy. I love catching a film I know nothing about and enjoying it so much that bedtime gets later! The Goob is such a beast! The story is as old as time; son don't get on with evil new step dad, but it done so well, so low key that it is fresh. Cinematographer Simon Tindall achieves the impossible; making Norfolk look dreamily beautiful, harsh, ethereal and always with an undercurrent of menace. Director Guy Myhill does a great job - he takes his time but builds up the atmosphere, the story and the tension with skill and care. There is real romance here, and the many different ways of searching for it. There are believable comic interludes and there is no padding. Lead Liam Walpole is hypnotic and totally convincing, even when totally still! He looked spookily like Richard Ashcroft live on stage at Glasto!

Set during a hot summer we meet Goob who at sixteen has spent his time helping his mother out at her roadside café and farming pumpkins in the adjoining filed. Sounds a bit dull, but there is always the stock car racing and his mum falls for a womanising violent cliché of a man in the shape of Womack (Sean Harris '71' and 'Southcliffe') who likes to race his battered old motors. He and Goob do not get on and the inevitable friction develops with the very easily foreseen violence.There are asides to the story and some well observed teenage bonding and Elliot (Oliver Kennedy) makes for a very diverting interlude. Goob also starts to explore his own sexuality -in being attracted to one of the foreign seasonal workers – completing the coming of age theme.This is a film with a linear narrative and no back story. It relies on an immediate connection with the players and that is often very sparse as there is not much time to build empathy. That said the performances are all assured with only a few clichéd moments, and they mostly work given the context and the fact the Womack is a bully and therefore a child and a coward. All in all a well made independent film, that will not be to everyone's taste but has enough to ensure that we see more from writer and director Guy Myhill – recommended to fans of truly independent films.

The Goob is one of those films that could have been great and probably should have been great but is eventually let down by not exploring it's full potential.Liam Walpole (Goob) puts in a very commendable performance (his first) and lends an 'un-naturalness' to his character. He is without a doubt a natural at his art and sometimes makes it impossible to take the audience's eyes off his character.Sean Harris (Goob's abusive stepfather) also puts in a very good shift and there are moments when you actually feel intimidated by his presence during the film.Goob's only let down is that it doesn't grab the audience and immerse it into it's world. Apart from certain moments, I mostly felt like i was watching Goob with a thin sheet between me and the world inside the film. I wish director Myhill had torn down this sheet and drowned me in the entire world of Goob.Recommended for Walpole and Harris' performances. Not recommended for lacking substance.

Director Guy Myhill's coming of age film is edgy and impressive, with an eye-catching turn by Liam Walpole matching Simon Tindall's eye- catching photography of a depressing, down-at-heel part of Norfolk. Myhill's feature debut stars Walpole as 16 year-old Goob Taylor, who returns home to his mother (Sienna Guillory) for the summer in rural Norfolk where he grew up. The material in many ways is pretty familiar, but Myhill brings it up entirely fresh, as though this is the first time this kind of story has ever been told, making it feel unique. It's just 80 minutes, but it's got all the story you need packed in there. http://derekwinnert.com/the-goob-2014-movie-review/