Colin hires a lavish country manor for his extended family to celebrate New Year. Unfortunately for Colin his position of power in the family is under serious threat from the arrival of his estranged brother David.
Directed by Ben Wheatley, Happy New Year, Colin Burstead is a comedy-drama so thick of pervasive hostility that is could instead be categorised as a comedic tragedy. As writer, editor, and director, Ben Wheatley retains full creative control of this venture, and intentionally narrows the scope of the film to revolve around a single family and location.
In a similar storytelling narrative to that of his previous films (especially 2015’s High-Rise which starred Tom Hiddleston), Happy New Year, Colin Burstead comes across as an observational character study, rather than a story with a clear plot bearing. The premise is simple enough, a power struggle at a family event, between a group of individuals so dysfunctional that they make Family Guy and South Park look wholesome. Individuals, because this unabashedly British cast are so ethnically diverse and lacking of onscreen chemistry that the relationships feel inauthentic.
The family members themselves are a large group of heinous individuals. Displaying various levels of guilt, grudges, pettiness, and an overwhelming sense of presence due to obligation, this is a group of people that are overwhelmingly negative, not a single likeable character among them, and when so few of the characters want to be there, it begs the question; why are we watching this? Coming from a small family (in this country, at least), this reviewer had trouble relating to the large number of unlikeable characters that had no narrative direction, because I have had no dramas with my own family to that extent. Never have I felt absolute dread when it came to family events and occasions.
There is little that goes on in the film from the perspective of physical events; very dialogue-driven. You could adapt it to a radio soap with relative ease, and as such, there is much more to gain from the film if you can relate to the concept of tense family events, otherwise there is little for the audience to latch on to. This is a prime example of something better suited for theatre, where exaggerated dialogue and gesticulation thrive, and the cinematography and environments have no effect on the end product.
As far as themes go, Happy New Year, Colin Burstead asks the audience to look at the real consequences of scandalous family events. As with any gathering that involves alcohol, internal feelings become external feelings, and often it will reveal itself in an exaggerated manner at some point. Happy New Year, Colin Burstead toys with the concept that this release and communication of anger, resentment, and hostility is healthy, and necessary to overcome the issues that have a tendency to break families. This is not a film about the hatred these people have for each other; nay, this is a film about the underlying love and strength that the family unit has together.
An aspect that draws attention to the weak narrative direction, is the presence of secondary characters and subplots that remain unresolved at the conclusion of the film. The overall level of drama, combined with the breadth of characters and unsettled storylines does give the genuine tone of a dysfunctional family event, but from a structural perspective, Happy New Year, Colin Burstead gives the impression that it is an extended pilot for a television series, rather than a specific feature film.
Being British in nature, the style of comedy is concurrently crass, subtle and pretentious, which will struggle to gain wide appeal from the mainstream movie audiences. Indie and lo-fi in vibe, this dialogue-heavy feature is more likely to appeal to arthouse critics.