CATCH ME DADDY is a beautifully bleak family drama that combines elements of a western, a crime thriller and a character study into a strikingly brilliant piece of cinema. The story follows a young couple - Laila (Sameena Jabeen Ahmed) and Aaron (Connor McCarron) who have run off together against the wishes of Laila's very traditional Pakistani family, and are trying to make a life for themselves in a small town in Northern England. It's hard - money is tight and jobs are hard to come by, but the couple is happy. Until Laila's crimelord father sends her brother and a group of hired thugs to track them down and bring Laila home.
On the surface, it's a great thriller, taking place in a single day, with the pair desperately trying to stay just out of reach of the men chasing them. But there is a lot going on beneath the surface. The most compelling part of this film can be found in the performance of Sameena Jabeen Ahmed and the strength she imparts to Laila. In her first role, she is positively outstanding. This is a film that is very much in the moment, and we don't get a ton of backstory on any of these characters. But Laila's presence and evolution over the course of the film gives us insight into who she is, while also providing the story with a great deal of its emotional resonance. Life on her own with Aaron is tough - the two have no money, live in a trailer, and are on the lookout daily for signs that her family may have tracked them down. But they are happy. Free. She is alive and excited and reveling in her independence. With her wide eyes, her pink hair and her infectious charm, you understand immediately that she probably never fit in terribly well with her family, but here, she is enjoying the freedom to be herself and to live her life on her own terms.
This lightness and joy is contrasted brilliantly when we see her interacting with members of her family. What once was a carefree, gleeful girl becomes a despondent, caged animal when under the influence of her strict upbringing. Her demeanor changes completely, giving us a window into the life she was so eager to leave behind. In her life with Aaron, she is excited, outgoing and fun. Alive. In the confines of her family, she is rigid and broken. A young woman expected to be nothing more than a silent, obedient daughter - all spark and light gone.
At its core, the film is really about the relationship between a father and his daughter, and how that relationship is altered in the face of her growing up and asserting her independence against his desire to control her, no matter how much he may feel that control is in her best interest. His inability to understand and accept her for who she is in the face of everything that he has believed his entire life, versus Laila's willful struggle to assert herself and to make her own choices.
Daniel and Matthew Wolfe craft an impeccably-paced story that unfolds with an incredible amount of restraint. Each scene piles on a new layer of tension as the mercenaries get closer and closer to Laila and Aaron, who, time and time again, barely manage to evade their grasp. This tension is only amplified by the striking character moments that accompany the story.
CATCH ME DADDY opens in theaters this weekend, and will hit VOD platforms on September 1st.
