Edinburgh International Film Festival 2026
The State of Us
Genre: Comedy, Dramady, Dramedy, Film, Fringe Film
Venue: EIFF @ Filmhouse
Festival: Edinburgh International Film Festival
Low Down
A night of emotional hard truths, between two boys.
Review
Two teenage boys. Two very separate experiences. Taylor has cancer and lives in a hospice. Frankie, his best friend busts him out for one night of fun in Bradford.
Frankie (Samuel Bottomley), not so discreetly- bursts into the room of Joan- an older hospice patient in which Taylor (Callum Scott Howells), fondly refers to her like an ‘Aunt’. After busting Taylor out of the building, they stop at a house party in which the conflicts begins, paired with Taylor clicking with a girl of his fancy.
The real crux of the film is when Taylor and Frankie are sitting on a bench on the top of a hill, looking out on the Bradford skyline. The image seems familiar to the opening scene in which a young Frankie is spreading his mums ashes on the hill, his dad offering him sips of whiskey. Older Frankie now sits there, drinking a whole bottle of his own whiskey.
The comparison is key in showing, how integral it is for boys to have strong role models, along with the lack of support for men’s mental health in a culture heavy for using alcohol to numb pain. Written by Jake Harvey, he explores male friendship dynamics and the cries for help in young men who run from help.
With the clear direction of Ollie Gardner, the performances from Samuel Bottomley and Callum Scott Howells are magnetically powerful. They both don’t hold back when bouncing off of each other.
This film hits you hard. It’s the type of film that really gets you thinking about the world and the part we play in peoples lives. I urge young men to see this film. To hold each other and cry. To look at each other and revel at “the state of us.'”
