Effi o Blaenau (15)

Big-screen Welsh language adaptation of Gary Owen’s award-winning play Iphigenia in Splott. With English subtitles.

Effi is desperate to escape a town where the pubs are closed, the jobs have vanished and her grandmother works night shifts in the local chip shop just to get by. A chance encounter in a Llandudno nightclub with injured soldier Lee, played by Tom Rhys Harries, briefly opens a door to something better. For a moment, Effi glimpses a life she never imagined. The reality that follows is far tougher. 

Effi’s story exposes a stark social crisis with too many impossible choices made out of necessity rather than care. Leisa Gwenllian gives a searing performance as Effi, evoking condemnation and sympathy in equal measures.

Running time: 90 minutes