Aimee Lou Wood's new BBC Three drama, Film Club, premieres on Tuesday 7 October at 10pm. Co-created by Wood and fellow actor Ralph Davis, the series follows Evie, an agoraphobic woman who lives with her mother Suz (Suranne Jones) and sister Izzie (Liv Hill) in Manchester. Wood plays Evie, whose only escape is a weekly movie night in her garage, transformed into elaborate sets.
The story centres on Evie's bond with best friend Noa (Nabhaan Rizwan), who announces he is moving to Bristol. This prompts her anxious mother to intervene, leading to family tensions. The show attempts a romcom tone but lacks romantic chemistry, with Wood's performance described as 'all aquiver with feeling' while Rizwan's understated style shows little emotion.
Critics have noted the unlikelihood of Evie's garage transformations, comparing the one-woman Secret Cinema-style decorations to 'breathtakingly wasteful party decor' that would never appear in a typical British household. The series draws comparisons to Mike Leigh's Life Is Sweet and Kat Sadler's Such Brave Girls, but ultimately retreats into sentimentality rather than emotional depth.
The show does not delve deeply into mental illness, with Evie merely stating she 'malfunctioned' and 'lost the plot'. It is not a love story nor a celebration of film buffery, but rather a tale about familial bonds and a garage in Manchester. While the family dynamics are the most believable, the overriding feeling is one of missed potential.
