A case could be made that getting across modern-day London may not have been any easier for the angry young man played by George MacKay in “Mission” than the World War I soldier he starred as in “1917,” only the landmines he tries to step lightly around could’ve been placed there by himself. By starring in the Sam Mendes epic, MacKay established himself as one of the most formidable actors of his generation, a position he reaffirms in reuniting 13 years with director Paul Wright after they first worked together on “For Those in Peril” and shouldered that much responsibility on a feature in their respective roles, with the past familiarity only pushing both further as it follows MacKay’s Dylan to his breaking point.
Playing out as if Stan Brakhage might’ve been asked to direct “The King of Comedy,” the drama is driven by a ferocious performance from MacKay as the tortured Brit who toils away at a hotel restaurant, apt to say there’s more to life than this in confessional voiceovers as videos from his childhood play when an early brush with death where he was clinically dead for four minutes when he was seven showed him the light. However, two decades later, it seems he hasn’t shared these feelings with much of anyone, including his once-close sister Claire (Rosy McEwen) who it can be assumed was around to absorb much of his pain, and he threatens to let off more steam than anything in the kitchen where he works, just waiting for the opportunity when James (Emun Elliott), a new boss at the hotel comes around to do an evaluation and the hackneyed question of “Do you like working here?” gets an overly honest answer out of Dylan.
Although James gives Dylan only minutes to clear out his locker, Dylan gives himself a week in one of the rare instances he’s a little more generous to himself to live as thoroughly as he thinks is possible, soon banging about the city to free a capuchin monkey from the zoo, shoving a police officer before running off, and paying a visit to a dominatrix. No matter how crazy the wild antics are, it could feel like something you’ve seen before when there’s no shortage of films about those that feeling lost, yet MacKay genuinely appears to trying to relight a spark inside him as Dylan that went off some time ago as he can be overwhelmed by the frenzied flood of videos that Wright includes in the film, flitting in and out between childhood memories the character has with his sister and YouTube clips of a more exuberant life that seems just slightly out of a reach (conveniently ignoring the curation that others do of their likely equally humdrum lives to yield such bite-sized viral clips). The montages may be difficult to parse — and a little confusing even once they start taking a shape — but the violence they express on their own in brutal quick cuts effectively give a window into Dylan’s mind as he seems well on his way to madness.
While some finer articulation about whatever led to the divorce between Dylan and Claire might’ve been useful to make an eventual reunion more affecting (though having the “Blue Jean” breakout McEwen come in as a closer is as good as it gets), “Mission” carries plenty of momentum into a climax in which Dylan fully embraces the part of himself that likes Norwegian Black Metal, compete with makeup he looks ridiculous in. The potentially absurd conclusion works better than it would seem to have any right to, a surprisingly logical finale to the seriocomic storyline that sees Dylan continue to be compelled back to work amidst sowing his wild oats, ostensibly to finally ask out a coworker (Emma Naomi) he’s had a crush on, but just as likely having little imagination about where else he could go and repeatedly confronted by James telling him to go home. A life devoted to testing the limits looks as sustainable as never testing them at all, and rather than facing consequences from others, the dawning realization that you have to keep going and there’s no relief coming, even from death, hits hard. Still, if Dylan wants some confirmation that being a bit bolder has its benefits, he needs only to look towards the film he’s the center of.
“Mission” does not yet have U.S. distribution. It will next play at the Rome Film Festival on October 15th at 9 pm at Maxxi and October 16th at Giulio Cesare at 5 pm.