Third Star

James is twenty nine and being treated for cancer; the illness has advanced and the treatment no longer works. On his birthday he asks one thing of his three friends: to take him to a bay on the Welsh coast. He used to go there with his family as a child. The way is long and he cannot walk; his friends rig up a cart for him. The four set off. Along the road old accounts open; who did what, who lied to whom, and what James really wants of them comes out. Hattie Dalton directs. Benedict Cumberbatch plays James; Tom Burke and JJ Feild are in the cast. It is a British production. The coast where it was shot is a real place and stands as the destination through the narrative. The matter it treats is the request of a man who wants to die; the film takes that up directly in the last section. Friendship is at the centre and the film shows none of them as faultless; all three carry something of their own. The humour is dry and hard; heavy things are spoken about inside jokes. Its limit is structure; the road film shape is familiar and some sections predictable. It is a small production and was shot largely outdoors. Who it is for: viewers who like British independent drama and narratives of friendship. Who it is not for: the subject is heavy, the ending hard, and the plot familiar.