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Movies: Derelict (2024) by Jonathan Zaurin - The Haunting Echoes of Revenge and Redemption

  • Writer: dailyentertainment95
    dailyentertainment95
  • Sep 2, 2025
  • 5 min read

Gritty Crime Meets Emotional FalloutDerelict is a low-budget, deeply atmospheric British crime-drama directed and shot by Jonathan Zaurin. The film weaves together the stories of Abigail (Suzanne Fulton), devastated by her father’s brutal and senseless murder, and two brothers—Matt (Michael Coombes), soft-hearted and sensitive, and Ewan (Pete Bird), cocky and impulsive—whose return from prison threatens to entangle Matt in criminal chaos. Told in a non-linear structure, the narrative juxtaposes Abigail’s monochrome present with vivid color flashbacks, collapsing timelines to explore grief, violence, and the destructive echo of vengeance. This emotionally resonant dark drama premiered at FrightFest 2024 and moves from grief to moral ambiguity with haunting precision.

Why to Recommend Movie — Grit with Real Heart

  • Powerful performances anchor the story: Suzanne Fulton embodies the quiet fury and exhaustion of Abigail, allowing the audience to feel every ounce of her pain without resorting to melodrama. Michael Coombes offers a deeply empathetic portrayal of Matt, balancing kindness with a quiet desperation, while Pete Bird injects volatile energy into Ewan, creating constant unease.These layered performances give the film emotional authenticity, turning a bleak revenge story into a deeply human one.

  • Uncompromising exploration of vengeance: Unlike thrillers that glorify revenge as catharsis, Derelict refuses that comfort. Instead, it confronts viewers with the truth that revenge corrodes the soul, offering no release or healing.This bleak but honest approach leaves a deeper impact, lingering long after the credits roll.

  • Inventive use of limited resources: Created on a micro-budget of about £35,000, the film showcases how creativity can overcome financial constraints. Through precise cinematography, symbolic lighting, and inventive editing, Zaurin achieves an atmosphere that feels expansive and cinematic.The resourcefulness behind the film highlights the strength of independent cinema as a space for experimentation and raw emotion.

What is the Trend Followed? — Anti-Vigilante Realism in Crime Cinema

  • Intimate crime stories: The film belongs to a growing trend of small-scale crime dramas that focus on personal trauma rather than action spectacle. Instead of glamorizing violence, it examines its devastating human cost.This shift toward intimacy makes the story more relatable and emotionally immersive.

  • Moral ambiguity over clear resolutions: Characters are not presented as heroes or villains but as flawed individuals shaped by loss, desperation, and circumstance.This aligns with a wave of crime films that explore the messy complexity of human choices, refusing to simplify or moralize.

Director’s Vision — Painting Grief with Visual Contrast

  • Color as emotional metaphor: Zaurin separates timelines visually, presenting Abigail’s color-drained present in monochrome while past memories glow with vivid warmth.This striking aesthetic reinforces the emotional core of the story—the vibrancy of life lost to grief.

  • Unified creative control: Taking on directing, cinematography, and editing, Zaurin ensures a singular vision throughout.His intimate involvement in all aspects of production creates cohesion, where every shot and cut serves the story’s emotional rhythm.

  • Empathy over spectacle: Even as he explores crime and vengeance, Zaurin resists sensationalism.He frames violence as tragic inevitability rather than entertainment, grounding the film in emotional realism that resonates more deeply.

Themes — Remorse, Redemption, and the Hollow Toll of Vengeance

  • Cycle of violence: Abigail’s pursuit of retribution threatens to perpetuate the very brutality she despises, highlighting how violence begets more violence.

  • Fragile family ties: Matt and Ewan embody the strain of brotherhood fractured by prison, addiction, and conflicting values. Their dynamic mirrors Abigail’s struggle with loyalty and loss.

  • The erosion of self through grief: Abigail’s identity becomes consumed by anger, showing how mourning can strip a person of hope and humanity.

  • Ambiguity of justice: The film asks uncomfortable questions about morality—does revenge ever heal, or does it only deepen wounds?

Key Success Factors — Intimacy, Visual Metaphor, Raw Honesty

  • Actor-driven storytelling: The success of the film lies in its raw, authentic performances, which allow viewers to connect deeply with flawed characters.

  • Inventive cinematography: Despite budget limitations, the use of light, framing, and color design gives the film a distinctive visual signature.

  • Fragmented narrative: The non-linear editing mirrors Abigail’s fractured emotional state, allowing the audience to experience grief as disorienting and destabilizing.

  • Festival momentum: Its selection at FrightFest elevated its profile, placing it among the notable independent films of its year and amplifying its reach to a wider audience.

Awards & Nominations — Festival Resonance

Derelict premiered at FrightFest 2024, one of the UK’s most prominent genre festivals, where it was recognized as a standout in the crime-drama lineup. While it hasn’t yet accumulated major award wins, the festival buzz and critical praise mark it as a significant achievement for independent British cinema.

Critics Reception — Dark, Haunting, and Hard to Shake

  • Performances singled out for praise: Critics widely applauded Suzanne Fulton’s portrayal of Abigail, describing her performance as restrained but emotionally devastating. Michael Coombes was highlighted for adding warmth and compassion to a bleak story.

  • Bold visual style admired: Reviewers noted that the interplay of monochrome and color elevated the film’s atmosphere, capturing grief as both emotional and visual disorientation.

  • Deliberate pacing noted as divisive: Some found the slow, measured pace challenging, but others argued that it allowed grief and tension to breathe, making the eventual emotional payoff more impactful.

Summary: Critics see Derelict as a daring, uncompromising indie that prizes emotional honesty over genre spectacle. It is difficult, raw, and unforgettable.

Reviews — Atmospheric, Uneasy, and Empathetic

  • Viewers described the film as “a bruise that lingers long after,” appreciating its ability to convey grief and vengeance without romanticizing either.

  • Some audiences admitted the narrative’s fractured structure demanded patience but praised the payoff as haunting and emotionally rewarding.

  • Fans of independent cinema recognized it as an ambitious, emotionally charged project that demonstrates the strength of small-scale, personal filmmaking.

Summary: Reviews emphasize its rawness and emotional intensity, framing it as a film that may challenge audiences but rewards those willing to engage with its bleak but honest storytelling.

Movie Trend — Unvarnished Crime, Emotional Truth

The film reflects a growing trend of stripped-down, realist crime dramas that avoid glossy stylization. By focusing on emotional consequences rather than action spectacle, it embodies a new wave of independent crime cinema that explores violence as trauma rather than entertainment.

Social Trend — Grief’s Indelible Mark in Marginal Worlds

Derelict resonates with a broader social conversation about grief and unresolved trauma in communities often left on the margins of justice. It acknowledges that in many lives marked by violence, healing is elusive, and closure rarely comes.

Final Verdict — A Rugged Mirror to Violence and Loss

Derelict is a bleak but profoundly human story that strips away revenge-thriller conventions to expose the raw wound of grief. Jonathan Zaurin’s creative use of visual metaphor, fractured structure, and haunting performances builds a film that unsettles rather than comforts. It is not designed to entertain in the traditional sense—it is designed to make you feel the emotional toll of violence and the futility of vengeance. For audiences who appreciate uncompromising, emotionally raw cinema, Derelict stands as a remarkable achievement in independent filmmaking.


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