Pretty Red Dress

In select cinemas now

This endearingly unusual feature debut from Dionne Edwards offers a daring challenge to societal norms and toxic masculinity, told to the sound of one of the year’s best original soundtracks.

Edwards’ screenplay is focused on Travis (played excellently by an impressive Natey Jones), a young man who, upon his release from prison, returns home to his partner Candice (Alexandra Burke) and teenage daughter Kenisha (Temilola Olatunbosun), only to find himself struggling to reassert his position as the head of their household.

This is due to a number of complex factors, including Candice’s attempts to balance an uninspiring day job with a gruelling audition to play her idol Tina Turner in a new West End show, and Kenisha’s difficulty navigating the complexities of adolescence and her own sexual identity.

Most interesting of all though is Travis’ complex relationship with his own sexuality, which sees him regularly drawn to the film’s titular red dress, which he bought as a gift for Candice but is compelled to regularly try on himself. Sadly, this freeing experience coincides with a downward spiral in Travis’ mental health, his partnership with Candice, and their relationship with Kenisha.

Pretty Red Dress spins a lot of plates and consequently often feels like a complex affair, with many questions asked about the boxes our respective societies place us within. Emotionally, it is an oscillating experience - in some parts joyous, others extremely upsetting - but it always retains a sense of spirit and purpose that marks it out as one of the year’s most intriguing and rewarding pictures.

Jones, Burke, and Olatunbosun are all nothing short of a revelation, while Edwards marks herself out as a filmmaker worth keeping an eye on.