Fish Tank

FISH TANK is Oscar-winning filmmaker Andrea Arnold’s (the 2005 short, WASP) follow-up to her powerful 2006 feature debut RED ROAD, and her second feature to win the Cannes Jury Prize. An emotionally stunning coming-of-age story set in a British housing complex, FISH TANK is electrified throughout by the breakthrough performance of its young star Katie Jarvis, who was cited by indieWIRE as “the discovery of Cannes.” Following his critically acclaimed performance in HUNGER, Michael Fassbender (INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, 300) stars opposite Jarvis, along with Kierston Wareing (IT’S A FREE WORLD). FISH TANK also screened at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals.

Fifteen-year-old Mia (Katie Jarvis) is in a constant state of war with her family, her school and her neighbors, without any constructive creative outlet for her considerable energies save a secret love of hip-hop dancing. When she meets her party-girl mother’s charming new boyfriend Connor (Michael Fassbender), she is amazed to find him returning her attention, and believes he can help her start to make sense of her life—though his seemingly tender demeanor may hide a much more treacherous interior. A clear-eyed, potent portrait of teenage sexuality and vulnerability, FISH TANK confirms writer/director Arnold’s status as one of the leading figures of new British cinema.

“Vivid…Arnold creates searing scenes that stick in the mind. Katie Jarvis gives a star-making performance as a disaffected teenager.“ (Ray Bennett, Hollywood Reporter)

“The heartbreaking tale of a teenage misfit … Arnold has a talent for multi-layered characters and naturalistic dialogue and an eye for finding the poetic moments in even the bleakest of lives.” (Allan Hunter, Screen International)

“Katie Jarvis is mesmerizing… only a handful of other films have dared to evoke so frankly the nature of teenage femme sexuality, as young women test their power with a mixture of precocity and naivete.” (Leslie Felperin, Variety)

“Tough and brilliant...the contradictions of adolescence have rarely been conveyed with such authenticity and force.” (A.O. Scott, New York Times)