Bait is a 2019 British drama film written and directed by Mark Jenkin. Starring Edward Rowe as a struggling fisherman, the film deals with the tensions that arise between locals and tourists in a Cornish fishing village against a backdrop of second homes, short-term lets, and gentrification.
Plot
Martin Ward is a fisherman in a picturesque Cornish village. He struggles to make ends meet fishing without a boat, while his brother Steven uses their late father's vessel to offer cruise trips to visiting tourists.
Meanwhile, tensions arise between Martin and the out-of-town Leigh family, who use the harbour-front 'Skipper's Cottage' they bought from Martin and Steven as a seasonal holiday home and short-term rental business.
Jenkin filmed Bait using a vintage hand-cranked Bolex camera, using 16mm monochrome film that he hand processed.[1] Shooting locations include Charlestown and West Penwith, in Cornwall.[2]
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 39 reviews, with an average score of 8.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "As visually distinctive as it is narratively satisfying, Bait blends a classic aesthetic with timely themes to produce a thrillingly original and uniquely enriching drama."[3] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[4]
Writing in The Observer, Mark Kermode gave a glowing review, describing the film as 'a genuine modern masterpiece, which establishes Jenkin as one of the most arresting and intriguing British film-makers of his generation.'[5] He later named Bait his favourite film of both the year and the decade.[6]Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian called the film 'intriguing and unexpectedly watchable', in a four-star review that remarked on the experimental nature of the film.[7]
