It seems apt that Billie Piper has been omnipresent at two key turning points of my life. 1. When I bought my first album at 9 years old, which was her banger filled debut album, Honey To The B. 2. When I sat down in a small screening room to watch her directorial film debut, Rare Beasts, which Billie stars in and wrote.
Watching it, I couldn’t believe how much my daily thought processes and the muddied lives of the friends who surround me were powerfully reflected back. But most importantly, it was the very first time I felt that it’s actually ok to be so damn conflicted about our personal lives in this crazy world in which we find ourselves.
Rare Beasts, an anti-romantic comedy, is the most accurate portrayal of the internal crisis many of us millennials face I have ever seen and centres around the story of Mandy, a nihilistic single mother trying to hold down a job, a relationship and, most crucially, her mind. Speaking at the intimate screening Billie personally hosted, she told the audience that she started writing the film when she was 30 years old a time where, “the world was telling us that we could have it all, but all I could see around me was female crisis.”
As a gay man, many of you may read this and think, how can you relate to a single mother or female crisis? Well, actually, in many ways. Just as if you are a single mother yourself with a slight confliction over being a mother would. Or, a single woman – or man – trying to solider on in the bid to be a soloist because you think society demands it but secretly you want a partner to help support you (or just pay a bill or two). Or, a man who is struggling with his identity in our new feminist age. Or, as Billie powerfully articulates, if you are a feminist who is battling to reconcile their voice or views with the pressures around you. Something which is brilliantly shown by Lily James’ cameo as a bride who labels herself as, “a post-post-post-feminist. That’s our gift as women – we can see through all that arrogance and rage!”
Whichever of the above category you fall into, Rare Beasts will humorously and, at times savagely, make you question yourself; and for that reason it’s not always comfortable viewing. In the opening scene, Billie finds herself on a date which is seemingly going south – and fast. Her date, Pete (Leo Bill) remarks that she is probably terrible at blowjobs because, ‘You’ve got too many teeth.’ This shockingly provides the catalyst for a somewhat questionable relationship. And who can’t relate to putting up with a relationship, ‘just because,’ when you know deep down it isn’t right for you? I’ll raise my hand to that one!
In one of the most profound scenes, Billie’s Mandy is sat digesting the verbal vomit of her three friends as they reveal their innermost feelings during a heavy ‘session.’ In a conversation that is not too dissimilar to a dinner party I attended last week, the chatter is filled with spiralling mental health and boyfriends who weren’t quite cutting it. I defy you not to relate to one of the characters gathered in that scene.
For all the jazzy blockbusters out there and the binge-worthy serial dramas on Netflix, take the time to go to the cinema and support this wonderful if in fact terrifyingly truthful film. The only special effects needed here are Billie’s gut-wrenching performance, perceptive direction and brutally honest story telling.
And what did I learn about myself? After years of priding myself as an independent person of Destiny’s Child proportions and building my self-esteem on strong ambition, it’s ok to admit life is a little easier with someone by your side – sometimes…
Rare Beasts will be shown at the BFI London Film Festival on 10th October
