Films like this make me cheer, because it is rare that a film aims so high and hits all of its marks. I mean to compliment not only the writer/directory Paul Andrew Williams's sure-shot storytelling, but the outstanding performances all around.<br /><br />This is a deeply unpleasant film, by which I mean it deals in dark subject matter. It is difficult to watch. But I cannot remember watching actors work harder to earn their paychecks, especially the two protagonists played by the incredible Lorraine Stanley and the young Georgia Groome, whose terrified sobbing just absolutely tore me apart.<br /><br />Watching Lorraine Stanley carry both guilt and responsibility (especially her scene as she sits listening on the couch), I was struck by what exactly how difficult acting must be. I rewound to watch this scene twice, amazed with the overwhelming realism of her reaction to what was going on. Neither overblown nor self-consciously minimalist, I could simply not imagine this character reacting any other way; not even by a hair. Watching an actor hit their mark so precisely, it reminded me of everything I could never pull off myself in front of a camera, and why I never sought to be an actor: I know that even after years of study and practice, I would not be capable of this kind of precision. This actress walks around the whole film with a beat up face and her basic humanity just bores straight through the latex and makeup in a way that never leaves you guessing exactly what's going on in her mind. She's just fantastic.<br /><br />And I don't want to leave out the bad guys. Sometimes they don't get the credit they deserve because we love to hate them, but without them, you can't pull as hard for the good guys as you would, and Johnny Harris in particular pulls off the sleazy, evil, slightly thick Derek with remarkable effectiveness, wearing the characters immorality on his shirtsleeve and fairly stinking up the joint in the best possible way. Ditto for the rest of the baddies, for whom you will have, I promise, no sympathy whatsoever.<br /><br />After watching a terrible big-budget film with A-list Hollywood types early in the evening, I cannot help but focus on the contrast between punching a clock in a big budget film and putting sweat and blood into a labor of love that London to Brighton must have been.<br /><br />There is a vast difference - and it is clear from some of the comments here that many cannot make the distinction - between making a depraved film, and making a film about a depraved subject. This film is certainly the latter. At no point in this film are we invited to sympathize with the degenerate villains, and our sympathies for Kelly and Joanne simply grow as we become more and more acquainted with the malevolence and motivations of the reprehensible and sometimes demented antagonists.<br /><br />This will be worth your time, and I'd definitely rate it higher than the 7.1 it is currently at on IMDb. This is an outstanding film and, unpleasant and squicky subject matter aside, I recommend it unreservedly.<br /><br />Deft, effective film-making. This is how it's done, folks.