The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford review: 'creatively bold'

The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford | Saskia Coulson

The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford (15) ★★★★

Scottish filmmaker Seán Dunn makes a promising debut with The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford, a discombobulating tale of a Scottish tourist guide who starts losing his grip on reality when production on a Game of Thrones-style fantasy show engulfs his home town. Peter Mullan takes the lead as Kenneth, a recent widower whose disdain for the disruption the show’s production causes is rooted in his own obsession with the town’s most famous son, Sir Douglas Weatherford, a 17th century inventor, philosopher, writer and experimental surgeon whose status as one of the leading figures of the Scottish Enlightenment has been all but forgotten by everyone but him.

Kenneth has a pretty blinkered view of history, though, and when the Weatherford-themed visitor’s centre he works in is quickly repurposed as a hub for the show’s cosplaying fanbase, he embarks on a delusional plan to enlist its unsuspecting star (Jakob Oftebro) in a documentary about Sir Douglas that will secure his legacy.

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Though the film could easily have traded on Outlander’s success with straightforward satirical gags about the clash between locals and filmmakers, Dunn is scratching at something more interesting here by having Weatherford (voiced by David Hyde) provide contemptuous narration that acts as an ironic counterpoint to Kenneth’s unquestioning hero worship. At first this functions as a way to tease out Kenneth’s grief, but gradually Dunn uses it to darken proceedings in some creatively bold ways. The ensuing mix of tones can be jarring, but Mullan’s deeply felt performance holds it together.

In cinemas from 12 June.

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