Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Juno Temple, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Hazlewood, Daisy Bishop, Jamie Harris, Grant Harvey, Danny Ramirez, Robert Schwartzman, Alexandra Daddario, Jacob Loeb, Mickey Schiff, Andres Faucher, Charles Boothe, Reef Karim, Anthony Rossomando, Bria Vinaite, Nana Ghana, Corey Mendell Parker, Jonathan Ohye, Tao Okamoto, Nic D’Avirro, Marius De Vries.
No matter how well-meaning many people are, the feeling that the truth and accuracy of the phrase lip-service is horribly spot on when it comes the issue of mental health. We urge people to open up in private, to talk through their problems, then we scoff, we join in cackle-like delivery of those who wish to shame someone for having doubts about their thoughts, we mock and sneer, we call the unfortunate souls under pressure names like weak, pathetic, we might even say that they don’t know what it is to feel scared, and then deliver a sermon on how we had it tougher, but pulled ourselves together, we ‘manned up’ and took control.
The reason why we do this arguably comes down to fear, the ridiculous concern that such issues are caught like germs or a virus, or maybe because we don’t want the same labels placed against us, that we see the toxicity delivered by some as the antidote to such desperate and dark thoughts.
Even in the arts the issue of mental health has a long way to go before it can be considered as not pandering to a certain belief, a stereotype that is either exploited  for the use of keeping people afraid of the issue or used to gain laughs at the expense of the individual concerned; certainly this is arguably more true in cinema than anywhere else.
This is why the Katherine O’ Brien film Lost Transmissions is such a refreshing and welcome change of pace in the field of explaining rationally how some are forced to deal with their mental health issues, especially those that are seen to be more in tune with their artistic endeavours, those to whom we see as having it all, doing a job in which is set against the humdrum of the nine to five and the meaningless grey to which the clock and watch are forever linked, but never understanding that the thin line between creativity and mental illness is a frightening, and fearsome, enemy.
Lost Transmissions sees Simon Pegg at his absolute best, huge praise when you consider just how inescapably genuine an actor he is, and who has been at the forefront of some of the finest British films of recent times, and who has enriched some of the Hollywood franchises to have featured at the cinema.
Simon Pegg’s character of Theo Ross is one to whom you want to care for, indeed alongside the superb Juno Temple as Hannah, Katherine O’ Brien has created two of the most endearing fictional personas on screen for many years, the depths of psychosis endured by Theo Ross, the fear of Hannah’s relationship, of wanting to relieve the pain of her friend but knowing her own mental stability could be attacked, is to feel the empathy of humanity. This is not a film out to take advantage, not to sneer, or poke fun at those who suffer, but to explain, to enlighten the audience on the nature of the fragility of the human mind and to accept that more needs to be done to help those who are suffering.
Lost Transmissions is a film that is sincere, a far cry from others who take a disturbingly different, almost dispassionate view of the issues at hand. Incredible story telling and reflection, fervent in its belief, a simple but effective tale of communication.
Ian D. Hall