In Our Name

In Our Name
Directed by	Brian Welsh
Written by	Brian Welsh
Produced by	Daniel Chamier Michelle Eastwood Ailsa Ferrier
Starring	Joanne Froggatt
Cinematography	Sam Care
Edited by	Hazel Baillie
Music by	Stuart Earl
Production companies	A10 Films Escape Films BBC Films
Distributed by	Curzon Artificial Eye
Release date	10 December 2010 (2010-12-10)
Running time	90 minutes
Language	English

In Our Name is a 2010 British drama film written and directed by Brian Welsh. It follows a female soldier (played by Joanne Froggatt) who has returned from serving in Iraq and her struggle to adjust back into everyday life. Froggatt won Most Promising Newcomer for her performance in the film at the 13th British Independent Film Awards.

Plot

Suzy Jackson (Froggatt) is a private returning from service in Iraq during the Iraq War to be reunited with husband and fellow soldier Mark (Mel Raido) and young daughter Cassie (Chloe Jayne Wilkinson) in North East England. Suffering from recurring nightmares related to her experiences while on tour and displaying paranoid behaviour, Suzy distances herself from her husband and tells her army superiors that she is fine aside from some insomnia due to jet lag.

Confused by her rejection of his affections, Mark begins to suspect that Suzy is having an affair with one of her fellow squaddies, his suspicions focussing on Paul (Andrew Knott). Paul and Suzy do a presentation for some school children arranged by Suzy's teacher sister Marie (Janine Leigh). At this presentation Suzy reveals her feelings of guilt over the death of an Iraqi girl who was executed by local militia for accepting a bag of sweets offered to her by Suzy.

Concerned about Suzy's state of mind, Paul visits her house to talk to her and she expresses her wish to keep Cassie safe in a way that she failed to do with the Iraqi girl. Mark returns to the house and discovering the pair deep in conversation confronts Paul and threatens him off, beforehand showing him grisly mementos of his own tours in Iraq that he has stored in his garage. He then discovers that Suzy has moved Cassie's bed into their bedroom "for safety", which he believes to be a ruse to avoid intimacy with him and so accuses her of having an affair.

Suzy and Mark go drinking with friends at their local working men's club and Paul turns up, pleading with Suzy to get counselling and to leave Mark, whom he confronts and accuses of being a psychopath before being bundled out of the club. In the taxi home, Mark picks an argument with the Muslim driver by making racist remarks. Subsequently their house is daubed in anti-British graffiti, an incident that is witnessed by Cassie, who wakes her father, but missed by Suzy who has taken sleeping pills. In retaliation, Mark and his friends contrive to lure the driver to a location where they, along with Suzy, beat him and record the attack on video.

Further disturbed by the ferocity of the beating that Mark gave the taxi driver and having discovered the stash of mementos previously seen by Paul, Suzy takes Cassie and goes on the run to South Shields, armed with a pistol that she has taken from her army base. The pair camp out in some woodland with Suzy again taking pills to help her sleep. As a result, Cassie awakens first and starts playing with the pistol, Suzy only being woken when her daughter accidentally discharges it.

The incident persuades Suzy that her actions are not contributing to Cassie's safety, and they return home.

Main cast

Actor	Role
Joanne Froggatt	Private Suzy Jackson
Mel Raido	Mark Jackson
Chloe Jayne Wilkinson	Cassie Jackson
Andrew Knott	Paul
Janine Leigh	Marie
Drew Horsley	Tony
John Henshaw	Frank
Anna Maria Gascoigne	Sandra
Bill Fellows	Dr. Tennant
Shah Amin	Taxi driver
Begun Coskun	Iraqi girl
Rob Just	Ten pin bowling server

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Froggatt’s performance won universal praise, but opinions on the film as a whole were more variable.

Time Out gave the film four stars out of five, describing it as Welsh’s “promising second film” with which he “proves himself a name to watch.” Digital Spy was similarly positive, also giving the film four stars and calling it “a convincing and fairly devastating character piece”.

Despite praising Froggatt’s “powerful performance”, The Guardian was less positive, awarding the film only two stars and with reviewer Peter Bradshaw reporting that it “starts interestingly, but resorts to clichés” and ultimately “delivers less than it promises”. Little White Lies were similarly critical, describing the film as “a weak and dubious antidote to the pro-forces detritus that is usually found on screen” and “passable but flawed”. Empire also gave the film a two star rating, noting Froggatt’s “standout performance” but also that “Welsh's attempt to tackle the brutal realities of post-traumatic stress is hampered by over-scripted dialogue and an uncomfortable mid-film shift into thriller mode”.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award/Festival	Category	Nominee(s)	Result
2010	54th BFI London Film Festival	Best British Newcomer	Michelle Stein & Brian Welsh	Nominated
	13th British Independent Film Awards	Most Promising Newcomer	Joanne Froggatt	Won
		Best Achievement in Production	Brian Welsh	Nominated
2011	35th Montreal World Film Festival	Golden Zenith		Won

External links

• In Our Name at IMDb
• In Our Name at Rotten Tomatoes