Scrapper is a shoo-in for RuPaul’s Drag Race, possessing all the skills that RuPaul asks for, Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve and Talent. The film is bubbling with energy and ideas from start to finish, never letting up or slowing down. It slots itself nicely into the heart warming indie British film catalogue along with recent releases like Brian and Charles and Rye Lane. In the company of those films, it feels like a safe bet to say that I enjoyed this film and look forward to a rewatch on a day where I want to escape to a colourful and undetermined shire.
The film opens with a quote “it takes a village to raise a child”, which is then quickly scratched out and crudely replaced with “I’ll raise myself thanks”. Georgie lives on her own, in a terrace house, cleaning up after herself to reference pictures of how her mum left it. We see her check the five stages of grief and learn that she’s lost her mother. She’s been left alone, to fend for herself. A lot of these first few scenes are an invitation into Georgie’s world, showing her and her friend Ali’s daily routine and letting you in on their relationship.
Georgie makes her money through bike theft and closes the sales deal with that RuPaul coveted charisma. She and Ali spend their days together, getting out of trouble in fun and creative ways, whether that’s imitating bike safety inspectors or using voice memos to fool social services into thinking she is living with her uncle.
This story continues until interrupted by Jason, Georgie’s biological dad. She rejects him at first, not wanting things to change from how they were and resenting him for not sticking around when she was born. Not to be gross and off topic but Harris Dickinson could adopt me and I wouldn’t be upset about it, okay?
We watch Georgie and Jason bond from then on. Jason being gentle with Georgie’s boundaries, while also making sure to stake his claim in her life, not letting Georgie be the adult in the situation. We get childish and fun interactions between them with a level of responsibility that lets us, as an audience, trust Jason and his intentions as Georgie’s father. He doesn’t come into her life out of obligation, he enters her life with a genuine want to be there for her and to get to know who he’s missed out on.
Their relationship is handled so well in the film as they navigate the complexities of figuring out if Jason is a convict, vampire or mob boss. As someone who is all three of these, I understand Georgie’s hesitation to lower her guard and let him in. Unfortunately, his Drag Race Charisma and charm starts to melt through the hard emotional surface that Georgie fronts and she slowly lets him in as the film progresses.
More of Jason’s character is revealed through the runtime, showing him to be someone who had a kid too early, not ready to take on the responsibility and face his own consequences. We don’t necessarily get the turning point for him or the reasons why his priorities shifted from keeping a grip on his (own) youth to respectfully gaining an emotional grip with his youth (child). I also don’t think we needed to get bogged down on his reasoning, he is here now and doing what he can, I think its a lot for Jason to expect Georgie to forgive him for not being around, but it feels like he knows that while also forcing his way into her routine, determined to be a part of her future.
The film has such a youthful and energetic tone to it, reflected in its craft too. The film is bright and soft, with bouncy music, guiding us from scene to scene. The camera is traditional in most cases, following the story, watching the characters interact and letting them live in the space. It isn’t simple though, its cinematic in shot choice, helped by the environment and colour within the world.
We then have these little vignettes where we break the immersion with a change in visuals, whether that be a different colour palette or a different aspect ratio.These little sections bring so much life to the film, as we see some interviews with side characters or imaginative scenarios posed by Georgie and Ali. There is something so naturalistic about the style to the film where it doesn’t feel like a major shift in tone when jumping from reality to imagination or from narrative to interview, we follow the journey and bounce from point to point with ease.
Finally, I think that the joy of the film is not lost on the emotional weight it also carries. I hate to say it like everyone else but it balances the two so well throughout. It does, and I can’t help that. Georgie goes on a journey from a closed off and resourceful protagonist to someone who learns to accept help from those around her. She is able to begin letting Jason into her life as someone who can enhance it, and not take away from the way she lived before. Watching her grow in such a short space of time is a little embarrassing for me as someone who has lived twice as long and grown half as much in the whole time I’ve been alive. I’ve also not been written into a self contained fictional story so I will give myself that little bit of leniency.
It feels like every time I talk about film, I say its an exciting time for this specific sub genre of film, but British independent films feel like the ones who are coming in heaviest and most aggressive at the minute. With the actor and writer strikes going on in America, I think this type of filmmaking is going to thrive. I look forward to a fair resolution to the strikes but selfishly, I am more looking forward to a future with exciting, new films from interesting and diverse filmmakers in this glorious, unproblematic, fair and just country. God Save Harris Dickinson
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