| Third Star (rus - | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Hattie Dalton |
| Produced by | Kelly Broad, Vaughan Sivell |
| Written by | Vaughan Sivell |
| Starring | Benedict Cumberbatch J. J. Feild Tom Burke Adam Robertson Hugh Bonneville |
| Music by | Stephen Hilton |
| Cinematography | Carlos Catalán |
| Editing by | Peter Christelis |
| Release date(s) | June 2010 (Edinburgh Film Festival) |
| Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Third Star is a 2010 British comedy-drama film directed by Hattie Dalton and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, J. J. Feild, Tom Burke, Adam Robertson, and Hugh Bonneville.[1][2] It premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival in June 2010, where it was shown as the closing film,[2] and was released in the United Kingdom on 20 May 2011.
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The film stars Cumberbatch as James, a young man terminally ill with cancer. At his request, his three friends - Davy, Bill and Miles - organize a final camping trip to his favorite beach at Barafundle Bay, on the Pembrokeshire coast. In chronic pain, James cannot walk unaided and chugs liquid morphine. He appears to be losing his perception of reality, implied by the fading in and out of the camera and repeated visions of a shadowy figure standing on a twilight beach. His friends, however, are burdened with their own personal and material demons, believe the journey to be nothing more than one last fun hike.
Travelling over the rugged and isolated coastal terrain, the men are faced with a series of accidents and set-backs - including the loss of their cart and supplies - that sorely test their commitment to getting James to where he wants to be. James, however, insists that they continue.
Weary, they rapidly lose patience and sympathy for each other and for James, who has grown increasingly bitter and needs to be carried. When they finally reach Barafundle Bay, James admits the true purpose of the trip: he plans to drown himself in the sea the next morning. Initially the friends reject the plan and the idea of having anything to do with it. However, after accidentally losing James' morphine supply and watching him struggle with crippling pain and withdrawal, they decide to help him and claim that they found James dead upon waking up.
James swims out to sea by himself initially, but Davy, Miles and Bill soon join him. Bill and Davy turn back after a few metres and watch from the shore as Miles helps James drown himself. Miles and the others carry James' body to the shore, and a voiceover from James explains that his life was happy and that's how he'd like to be remembered.
The Observer's Philip French called the film "competent", though "rather familiar and predictable, though not dislikable".[3] The Santa Monica Daily Press's Cynthia Citron called it "an absorbing, moving, and captivating experience".[2] The Guardian's Phelim O'Neill described it as "picaresque and directionless for quite some time, only falling into focus in the final furlong".[4]