Gino Evans’ debut feature, “Treading Water,” arrives with the familiar grey textures of British social realism, but quickly reveals a much more specific and painful ambition. The film introduces us to Danny, a young man stepping out from behind prison walls directly into the ambiguous freedom of a Manchester halfway house.
His stated problem is heroin addiction, a common enough conflict for this cinematic tradition. Yet the script soon makes it clear that his drug use is merely a symptom of a deeper, more chaotic struggle. This is a story about the mechanics of a mind at war with itself.
Danny is managing a severe form of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and the film’s primary mission is to place the viewer directly inside the storm of his intrusive, violent thoughts. From its opening minutes, “Treading Water” establishes itself as a demanding and intensely uncomfortable piece of work, one that refuses to look away from the agonizing particulars of its character’s inner life.
The Architecture of Anxiety
The film’s most potent narrative choice is its method of visualizing Danny’s condition. His intrusive thoughts are not just described; they are shown in visceral, brutal flashes of imagined violence. As Danny sits across from the manager of his residence, the film suddenly cuts to a graphic depiction of him attacking her.
The effect is jolting and deeply unsettling, but it serves a crucial storytelling function. It is a mechanism for empathy, forcing the audience to experience, if only for a moment, the terror of having a mind that produces such images without consent. His addiction is re-contextualized not as a simple failing, but as a desperate attempt to medicate an unbearable state of being.
This ambitious psychological portrait is anchored by a remarkable performance from Joe Gill. He embodies Danny with a quiet, simmering energy, his eyes reflecting a constant negotiation between shame and a yearning for peace. The physical tics and withdrawn posture tell a story of a man perpetually braced for the next assault from within.
The Story Deconstructed
For its first hour, “Treading Water” is a controlled and compelling character study. The narrative is tightly focused on Danny’s internal state and his fragile attempts to navigate the rules of his new life. Then, a new character arrives, and the film’s structural integrity begins to fray.
Laura, an old school friend who is now a pregnant sex worker, enters the story, and the intricate psychological drama promptly makes way for a far more conventional rescue narrative. The problem is not Laura herself, but her construction; she is less a person and more a plot point, a damsel whose distress exists to give the male protagonist a new purpose.
The film trades its most interesting subject—Danny’s fight with himself—for a less interesting one. This narrative pivot slackens the pace considerably. The second half meanders through an excessively long runtime, lingering on extended scenes at a party or a fairground that do little to develop character or advance the plot in a meaningful way.
The Look and Feel of a Fractured World
The filmmaking itself demonstrates considerable skill, particularly in service of the story’s stronger first half. Cinematographer Sam Cronin captures a version of Manchester that feels authentic and lived-in, using a widescreen format to juxtapose the sprawling city with Danny’s claustrophobic headspace.
The visual palette, a mix of stark interiors and the faint promise of distant city lights, effectively mirrors Danny’s fragile state. The atmosphere of the supported housing is enhanced by a strong supporting cast, especially Darryl Clark as fellow resident Rob, whose presence provides moments of genuine humor and camaraderie.
The film also employs a near-constant voiceover from Danny. While this device offers a direct line into his thoughts, it occasionally feels like a narrative shortcut. It tells us precisely what he is feeling, sometimes at the expense of allowing the scene or Joe Gill’s performance to communicate it with more subtlety.
Treading Water marks Gino Evans’s feature debut, launching at the BFI London Film Festival on October 12, 2024, followed by its Manchester premiere and a limited UK theatrical release on April 25, 2025
Full Credits
Director: Gino Evans
Writers: Gino Evans
Producers: Ben Toye
Cast: Joe Gill, Becky Bowe, Darren Connolly, Darryl Clark, Jo Dakin, Elianne Byrne, Christine Dalby, Vincent Davies, Leah Salmon, Tahlia Cherry…
Director of Photography (Cinematographer): Sam Cronin
Composer: Dan Baboulene
Editor: Tom Majerski
The Review
Treading Water
"Treading Water" presents a brilliant and brave character study for its first hour, fueled by a stunning lead performance and a startlingly effective depiction of mental illness. The film unfortunately abandons its complex internal focus for a conventional and meandering second half, losing the discipline that initially made it so potent. It is a work of immense promise undone by a failure of narrative conviction, leaving behind the ghost of a much better movie.
PROS
- A powerful and committed lead performance from Joe Gill.
- An inventive and empathetic visualization of OCD.
- A focused and compelling first act.
- An authentic and gritty atmosphere.
CONS
- The narrative loses its way after the first hour.
- An underdeveloped, one-dimensional female character.
- Excessive runtime with meandering scenes.
- Swaps a complex psychological study for a predictable plot.
