Young Adam

Accident? Suicide? Murder?

Written and directed by the award-winning short filmmaker David Mackenzie, Young Adam is a hauntingly faithful adaptation of the novel by the Scottish Beat writer Alexander Trocchi. Featuring a strong cast headed by Ewan McGregor, Tilda Swinton, Peter Mullan and Emily Mortimer, Young Adam is a moody, sensual thriller that takes place on the canals between Glasgow and Edinburgh during the 1950s. Evocative of the ambience of the Hollywood film noirs of the 1940s and ‘50s, the movie is one of the most original British works of recent years. Trocchi, was described by his friend and fellow author William Burroughs as a “critical and pivotal figure in the literary world of the 1950s and 60s.” The novel, ‘Young Adam’, which until recently had been a forgotten treasure, is about to receive a new lease of life with the release of this exciting film adaptation.

Set in a steamy Glasgow of the early 1950s, the film focuses on the crisis of Joe (McGregor); a rootless young drifter who finds work on a barge owned by the down-to-earth Les (Mullan) and his enigmatic wife Ella (Swinton). One afternoon Joe and Les happen upon the corpse of a young woman floating in the water. Accident? Suicide? Murder? As the police investigate the case and a suspect is arrested, it becomes evident that Joe knows more about the drowned woman than he is letting on. Meanwhile, against the backdrop of the ‘murder’ investigation, Joe and Ella embark on an intimate and passionate affair.