While some of the most devastating effects of coronavirus have been felt in our hospitals, varied and unexpected consequences have played out on ordinary streets up and down the country. On the eve of our first national lockdown director Paddy Wivell (Prison) decides to film the effect this period of isolation has on his own community. But like many British people he only knows a few of his neighbours. What’s more the rules of lockdown prevent the public from visiting other people in their homes or even standing within two metres of them.
So Wivell embraces these restrictions and films the diverse mix of London residents at a distance and through their doorways and windows. Over the months that follow the film maker befriends people who were once strangers as they reveal their fears and anxieties but also enjoy new found opportunities. What emerges is a ‘socially distant’ yet intimate film about people recalibrating what is important in life.
