A Bit of Light

A Bit of Light

“A Bit of Light” by Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin is an adaptation of the play ‘A Bit of Light’ written by Rebecca Callard. The film stars Anna Paquin, who plays the role of Ella, a recovering alcoholic woman that has lost custody over her daughters due to her addiction. Ella lives with her father Alan (Ray Winstone) after she lost everything because of drinking too much and destroying her family life.

Every day she skips group therapy and instead sits on a bench in a nearby park where she can see children playing on a playground. This is where Neil (Luca Hogan), a 13-year old boy who claims to have known Ella for his whole life, strikes up conversation with her and begins spending time with her. In reality though this boy only exists in Ella’s mind as he reveals himself towards the end when nobody else acknowledges having seen or heard from him before then.

The cinematography throughout “A Bit of Light” is uninspired; it fails to be anything more than functional as it does not add any depth or emotion to scenes nor does it use light/colors creatively or expressively enough so as evoke certain moods from viewers. Although this choice may serve some purpose thematically (e.g., reflecting how dull life becomes when one is filled with darkness inside oneself), there were numerous missed opportunities for heightening tension through visual means such moments are scarce within this movie however since most events occur within close proximity chronologically speaking only which makes sense given its short running time.

Moreover, all characters other than Ella are thinly drawn at best: they lack believable motives behind their actions/words; little effort was made regarding character development beyond what would be necessary for immediate plot progression purposes alone i.e. making audience understand why someone did something specific right now rather than revealing significant aspects about who these people truly are deep down inside themselves over longer periods of time spent watching them interact with others around themselves thus making it difficult to care about them or become invested emotionally.

On top of that, ‘A Bit of Light’ fails to deliver on its promising premise. The relationship between Ella and Neil is treated as taboo by the film because he’s much younger than her with no explanation given for this. Throughout most of their scenes together. I kept wondering whether Neil was real or just an imaginary friend created in Ella’s mind until such point.

Where another person interacts directly with him at which stage viewers can finally begin to understand what exactly has been going on here all along; though even then we’re left scratching our heads trying work out why things happened like they did especially since nothing about Neil himself indicates how he might fit into any given context otherwise apart from being there solely provide comfort/support whenever needed most desperately such moments arise throughout this story i.e. without adding anything else meaningful nor depthful beyond these basic functions alone.

Additionally, the fact that Ella does not confront her father about their shared history of alcoholism feels like a missed opportunity for character development; this lack only serves to highlight how shallowly others have been written in relation to each other throughout ‘A Bit Of Light’.

Joseph and Bethan are not well-defined characters. We know that Joseph is shy and Bethan is determined, but that’s about it. Neither of them knows how to approach Ella, and Kerkour doesn’t give us any hint of tenderness between them. Every interaction with either Joseph or Bethan feels like a fight; “A Bit of Light” always goes for heightened emotions arguments, meltdowns to sell Ella’s situation. It doesn’t believe in the simple facts of her life as sufficient. By making Neil the center of Ella’s story and treating heavy scenes seriously while rushing through lighter ones, “A Bit of Light” asks for fake emotional investment and misses the point of ordinariness completely.

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