New Year's Day review

Two best friends, who are the only survivors of an avalanche which hits a school skiing trip, give themselves one year to complete a set of tasks (rob a bank, perform surgery, burn down their school, etc) before they commit suicide.

It's a great idea for a movie. Sadly, the film's potential is not fulfilled. The central relationship between Jake (Andrew Lee-Potts) and Steven (Bobby Barry), the chalk-and-cheese friends, is unconvincing, because they are simply too dissimilar. On top of this, the script feels drastically edited and fails to find a balance between the exhilaration of the boys' tasks and their overshadowing grief. As a result, the pacing is poor and the film's message is never clear.

It's Lee-Potts' portrayal of Jake that saves New Year's Day from being a totally unwatchable mess, with his natural and assured presence giving proceedings the vital edge that's missing elsewhere.