Young Adam – 2003 | 93 mins | Drama | Colour

Plot Synopsis

David Mackenzie’s beautifully shot tale of a bed-hopping Scottish bargee is based on Scottish beat writer Alexander Trocchi’s novel and inspired by the great Hollywood film noirs of the 40s and 50s. Young Adam is a highly original thriller set against the backdrop of Victorian canals between Glasgow and Edinburgh during the grim 1950s. The surroundings of industrial decay and post-war austerity are unrelentingly bleak, and Mackenzie’s arduous character study and graphic depictions of sex don’t necessarily make for enjoyable viewing.

Joe (McGregor), a frustrated young writer, finds his passage working on a rusting barge travelling between Glasgow and Edinburgh, owned by down-to-earth Les (Mullan) and his wife Ella (Swinton). In the claustrophobic atmosphere of the barge, Joe launches into a steamy and passionate affair with the emotionally and sexually starved Ella. However, everything changes one afternoon when Les and Joe discover the half-naked corpse of a young woman floating in the River Clyde. As the police investigate and arrest the dead girls boyfriend, we discover that the amoral Joe knows more than he’s letting on. Gradually via flashbacks we learn of Joe’s doomed romance with the dead woman, Cathie Dimlie (Mortimer).