Wish You Were Here

Emily Lloyd - Lynda
Tom Bell - Eric
Jesse Birdsall - Dave
Clare Clifford - Mrs. Parfitt
Barbara Durkin - Valerie
Geoffrey Hutchings - Hubert
Charlotte Barker - Gillian
Chloe Leland - Margaret

Loosely based on the early life of notorious brothel madam Cynthia Payne, David Leland’s bittersweet directorial debut is an introspective character study of an irrepressible teenager that refuses to be crushed by her colourless surroundings. Sixteen-year-old Emily Lloyd runs riot in her auspicious screen debut, whilst Tom Bell is seedily impressive in this well observed postcard of English nostalgia.

Set in an austere post-war Brighton, England. Lynda (Emily Lloyd), a teenage girl troubled by her own inner demons, yearns for her mother, five years dead, and rebels against her emotionally sterile father (Geoffrey Hutchings) and the strait-laced residents of their drab seaside town. Lynda attempts to retain several jobs including employment at a hair salon, bus station and hotel, but time and again she’s sacked due to her insolence, provocative clothes and foul language. Exceptionally immoral and with a hunger to be loved, Lynda embarks on a series of sexual explorations, notably an affair with lecherous family friend Eric (Tom Bell) - promiscuity that eventually lands her in dire circumstances when she becomes pregnant. Unemployed and disowned by her father due to her self-destructive rambunctious, a defiant Lynda has some very crucial decisions to make about her future.