Shed Your Tears and Walk Away

The Telegraph“One of the saddest films I’ve seen in a very long time...” Lewis exposes to haunting effect the personal dimensions of this baleful situation but might have asked more questions about how it arose...

The Independent“So what's driving them to ruin?” Boredom is one reason cited, but fear also plays a part – fear of leaving one's mates and seeking a life outside the familiar comforts of home. Lewis himself is living proof of the successful escapee and – truth be told – a rebuke to his subjec

The Observer“An affecting, deeply depressing documentary...” The answer – deindustrialisation and irreversible social change – is heartbreakingly obvious...

Guardian“A passionate and sometimes despairing documentary...” Overdoses and suicides are rife. Boredom, alienation and unemployment are part of it, but it also seems to be a motiveless virus, a group neurosis, a contagious wave of futility and defeat that Lewis compares to the plague...

The Times“An affecting portrait of the cancer of addiction and hopelessness...” The camera becomes a confessional for damaged souls who are running out of options...

Channel4 Film“Not yet reviewed.”

Empire“Not yet reviewed.”

Little White Lies“Brave, honest, open-hearted filmmaking at its very best...” Although a desperately sad film there is great human spirit, genuine closeness to the subject matter and classic northern wit off-shooting any ‘poverty tourism’ accusations...

Total Film “Not yet reviewed.”

Time Out“Nobody seems to care when Lewis films them drinking their days away...” The tragedy of Lewis’s sensitive and sensible film is that most of its subjects are as aware as us of the rut in which they are stuck...