The Young Poisoner’s Handbook

Graham Young is a talented young man who spends every spare moment studying chemistry. He lives in a suburb with his sister, dad and stepmother. Seemingly safe, cozy and harmless. However these surroundings are not always nice and understanding. Graham is unfairly accused and punished by his stepmother for having hidden a bunch of porno-mags, which didn't belong to him, in his sister's room. His only picture in that vein is of Sister Ether. Fair is fair. Which means that Graham's reply to his stepmother is a box of chocolates, slightly laced ... Graham meets a girl, Sue, who works in the library. She has special talents; not only does she date-stamp his arm, she also smuggles out literature which Graham is too young to borrow. However the disappointment is great when Graham discovers that his friend, Mick, has also been date-stamped, at a later date and in a more intimate place. Another reason for Graham to put his knowledge to a test in an experiment involving chemistry, a sandwich and Mick.Soon Graham realizes that his neighbourhood is a never-ceasing supply of subjects to experiment on in his quest for the untraceable substance.How is it possible that this well-groomed, studious young man is able to expose his surroundings to lethal experiments? There are those that say that something has died within Graham, that he has no feelings of empathy. But of course he has feelings. Something inside of him is passionately in love with a deadly poison ...The Young Poisoner's Handbook exposes the grotesque in our everyday lives, the darkness behind the apparently safe. It is a cruel story told in a cordial manner. The pleasant and innocent aspects of cruelty are emphasized. Graham feels like a pal, who happens to have an unusual interest that just happens to draw him into a series of ''unfavorable'' events. He is one of us, somebody you feel for, a murderer that you can relate to. The film shows both love and contempt of the ''English'' way of looking at things. Thatcher and Major's England is criticized among other things for their ideas about ''family values'', and for the surviving ideas of the Enlightenment, the ideas of science and knowledge as ennobling for mankind. The story of the film is based on events surrounding a young man in north London in the sixties, with a special talent for chemistry. The director Benjamin Ross, born in the sixties and raised in north London, gives us his version of what happened. A personal, warm and funny version. Chillingly funny. This is elegant, dark humor in the best British tradition. IS

Premiärstatus
Nordisk premiär: Medverkande
Hugh O'Conor, Antony Sher, Ruth Sheen: Producent
Sam Taylor: Manus
Benjamin Ross & Jeff Rawle: Foto
Hubert Taczanowski: Musik
Robert Lane & Frank Strobel: Talat språk
English