Kelly + Victor

{{Infobox film

| name = Kelly + Victor

| image = Kelly + Victor Cover Art.JPG

| alt =

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Kieran Evans

| producer = Janine Marmot

| screenplay = Kieran Evans

| story = Niall Griffiths

| based_on = {{based on|Kelly + Victor|Niall Griffiths}}

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| music = Steve Fanagan

| cinematography = Piers McGrail

| editing = {{Plainlist|

Tony Kearns
Nathan Nugent

}}

| studio = {{Plainlist|

Hot Property Films
Venom Films

}}

| distributor = Verve Pictures

| released = {{Film date|df=y|2012|10|16|BFI London Film Festival|2013|09|20|United Kingdom}}

| runtime = 94 minutes{{cite web|title=Kelly + Victor (18)|url=http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/kelly-victor-film|publisher=British Board of Film Classification|date=25 July 2013|access-date=6 August 2013}}

| country = {{Plainlist|

United Kingdom
Ireland

}}

| language = English

| budget =

| gross =

}}

Kelly + Victor is a 2012 romantic drama film written and directed by Kieran Evans, based on Niall Griffiths's 2002 novel of the same name. Starring Antonia Campbell-Hughes and Julian Morris, the film follows a young couple embarking on a passionate love affair. The film won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer in 2014.{{cite news|last=Butler|first=Laura|url=https://www.herald.ie/entertainment/film/antonia-tells-of-joy-as-latest-movie-picks-up-bafta-prize-30024164.html|title=Antonia tells of joy as latest movie picks up Bafta prize|work=The Herald|date=19 February 2014|access-date=14 June 2018}} It was released in the United Kingdom on 20 September 2013 by Verve Pictures.

Plot

Kelly and Victor meet on the dance floor of a Liverpool nightclub, both of them on drugs. They quickly leave the club and return to Kelly's flat where they take more drugs and drink whiskey together. While they have sex, Kelly chokes and bites Victor for sexual gratification and admits to him in the morning that she got carried away.

Kelly's fetish is mirrored when she joins her dominatrix friend in whipping a masked man to earn some money, but she struggles to play the role of dominatrix and does not enjoy the experience. On a visit to her mother's house, Kelly finds that her mother has invited her ex-boyfriend, who is clearly still infatuated with Kelly but is not allowed within three metres due to a restraining order.

Victor sets up another date with Kelly, telling her in the pub that he would do anything for her and that their relationship is something special. Later, Kelly ties Victor's hands while they have sex, chokes him and carves the phrase "K + V" into his back using cut glass. Victor tells his friends and sister that he no longer wants to see Kelly but is clearly still preoccupied by her.

After returning from a party, Victor finds Kelly bleeding in the street after she has been attacked by her ex-boyfriend. He takes her to A&E and the two return home again together. Kelly again strangles Victor with a tie, him insisting that he will tap her when he has had enough. However, Kelly gets carried away and does not notice that Victor is unable to tap her. He dies from asphyxiation, leaving Kelly distraught and listening to a CD mixtape that he made for her.

Production

The film was shot almost entirely in Liverpool, with one sequence filmed in North Wales.{{cite news|url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/showbiz-news/director-liverpool-set-film-kelly--6716482|title=Director of Liverpool-set film Kelly + Victor celebrating after BAFTA success|last=Barlow|first=Eleanor|date=17 February 2014|work=Liverpool Echo|access-date=14 June 2018}}{{cite web|last=Jones|first=Josh|url=http://www.joshjoshjones.co.uk/projects/kieran-evans-esquire-weekly/|title=Kieran Evans – Esquire Weekly|website=Josh Josh Jones|access-date=14 June 2018|archive-date=21 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221092458/http://www.joshjoshjones.co.uk/projects/kieran-evans-esquire-weekly/|url-status=dead}}

Critical response

The film received positive reviews. Trevor Johnston of Sight & Sound magazine named Kieran Evans "the most exciting British filmmaker to emerge in the wake of Lynne Ramsay, Steve McQueen and Andrea Arnold".{{cite web|last=Johnston|first=Trevor|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/reviews-recommendations/film-week-kelly-victor|title=Film of the week: Kelly + Victor|work=Sight & Sound|date=23 April 2014|access-date=30 May 2021}}