Fish Tank

          This British IFC Film is about a fifteen-year-old female outcast (Mia) whose life changes when her mom gets a new boyfriend. Mia's troublesome wandering around town slows down as the new-found family (which also includes a blunt younger sister) spends more time together, which leads to a special kind of friendship between Mia and the new boyfriend (played by Michael Fassbender). The film is packed with indie-style tracking shots, mainly following Mia on her doomed adventures, which often end with a slight injury (physical or emotional) and Mia going home to practice new hip-hop moves. The two-hour length goes by slowly, but in a good way. The pacing helped prolong certain tensions between different characters. Some might say that the plot was predictable, but I found it to be suspenseful. Katie Jarvis gave a noteworthy performance as Mia, and Fassbender was great as Connor, her mom's boyfriend. Mia's side adventures seemed a bit out of place most of the time, but I think writer-director Andrea Arnold was just trying to show Mia's loneliness and emotional turmoil. Indie fans are sure to love this endearing movie.