Plastic Boy is a micro budget film written and directed by Sam Plommer, who also stars as the protagonist – Sam. Plommer makes excellent use of the resources available to create a film with the aesthetic of a much larger budget.
The characters are believable and compelling which firmly roots the film in realism. It mirrors the mundanity of life that we endure day to day while also reflecting issues that affect many of us such as redundancy, rent troubles and relationship troubles.
Sam’s unfortunate relationship with his ex-boyfriend is upsetting, revealing a deep sense of isolation and loneliness in the protagonist as he struggles to maintain friendships. To add insult to injury after being made redundant, Sam is mugged on his way home. However this exchange generates some comic relief as in classic British fashion, Sam apologises to the mugger for his cracked phone screen.
As his friendship with his flatmate (Sofie Bland) deteriorates, Sam finds himself still chasing people who just aren’t that into him. However this forces him to look farther afield for relationships as he moves his search online. Sam begins to realise he cannot get by in life by putting in the minimum effort.
Plastic Boy deals with many things but most of all is seems to be about growing up – moving out of the ‘post university phase’ and into real life. An endearing film on the subject of love, loss and everything in between.