Watching writer and director (and editor and executive producer and “Dog Poo Man”) John McPhail’s debut feature Where Do We Go From Here? which is on limited release at Cineworld Glasgow, I was reminded of a memorable exchange between Benjamin and his boyfriend Rasmus in the excellent Swedish television drama Don’t Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves in which the following question is posed: “Do you know where you’re going?” The answer to which, “No. Do you?”, met with an equally enigmatic response of “No. Then maybe we can go there together.”

A fate shared by the goofy care home janitor James (Tyler Collins, who also composes) and bored nurse-turned-love interest Jen (Lucy-Jane Quinlan) who after escaping the gaze of their stern boss Miss “Leave the room” Thompson (Maryam Hamidi) with a trio of batty residents for a fictional funeral in the Highlands answer the titular question of “Where do we go from here?” with a shrug of the shoulders and a quiet determination to hit the road because they’d “rather not be alone” in a care home which fails to live up to its name of “Easy Love”.

The tone is sweet and comic, as is the score by Collins. And the exchanges between the cardigan sporting and old before his time James and the breast flashing and young at heart teller of tall tales Joan (Alison Peebles in fine form) add an extra spoonful of sugar to an otherwise tepid cup of tea whose appeal crosses the generations and reminds us that it’s never too late (or early) to take a different path.

As for writer and director John McPhail’s path and where he goes from here, to borrow an old advertising slogan “the future’s bright, the future’s orange” in that his next movie, the zombie musical Anna and the Apocalypse, which is due for release in November, was described by Variety magazine as having “the originality and crowd-pleasing energy to become a Christmas movie hit”. Watch. This. Space.

Director: John McPhail
Writer: John McPhail
Stars: Richard Addison, Kim Allan, Michael Annis
Peter Callaghan
Latest posts by Peter Callaghan (see all)