Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Phil Davis, Maxine Peak, Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton, Ioanna Kimbook, Sara Kestelman, Sandra Gayer.

Disassociation is an area of science that does not get the fair representation in the media, on television, on film, that it arguably should receive. Thankfully the days where such a disorder was treated with derision is locked in the past, confined to the annals of the worst stereotypes conceived and the sensationalist attention grabbing tropes that do more harm than good.

There have been classics, both in the past and in the present-day arenas, but the context, when separated from such films as Split and Psycho, which whilst in itself is fully deserving of the praise it receives in its thriller/horror presentation, but is far removed from the notion that encompasses the sense of disparate reasoning, of the immense cycle of pressure placed upon the fragile human mind; even the comedy Me, Myself and Irene comes closer to understanding D.I.D. than most, but it is lost in the essence of the performance by Jim Carrey, wild, beautifully uncontrolled and arguably one of his finest performances in his career.

Perhaps one of the greatest, and closest films to get under the skin of the disorder is Identity, and it is to that the viewer might find themselves drawn when watching the superb tale set down by Inside No. 9‘s Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, the superbly written and captured, Thinking Out Loud.

The idea that we live so much on camera in the modern age, from on line dating, to blogging, influencing, to even the daily step of just capturing a moment of your life is to be admired, we all have things to say, even if they seem quite trivial to many, we should be able to say what we need to say without others telling us we are wrong, that it is not real.

But who’s to say what is, and what isn’t genuine and authentic, and for Nadia, played by the terrific Maxine Peake, the chance to talk comes at the right time, the small idea, the big secret, all comes tumbling out, and with sublime performances by Ioanna Kimbrook as the social influencer Angel and Bill, the lonely old man looking for love, played with effortless cool by Phil Davis, Thinking Out Loud is a sense of occasion, a belief that what we perceive is not always what others encounter, a perfect and subtle nod to the series as a whole in its delivery and content.

Thinking Out Loud is what we do best when we want to understand our own minds, to hear the voice of reason confirm or deny our actions, but when the mind becomes crowded, when there is nowhere to turn but to the eye of the camera and confess our sins, then it is to the apex of writing by the Inside No. 9 creators we should turn our thanks to.

Ian D. Hall