Having played British spies, lords, WWII fighters pilots and even wrestlers, Jack Lowden has now taken on his most contemporary role to date.
In the satirical short “Vote Gavin Lyle” — from WePresent, the arts platform of WeTransfer — the Emmy nominee portrays a middle-England family man and aspiring right-wing politician.
Released on YouTube and WePresent today, “Vote Gavin Lyle” comes from writer/director Aniel Karia, who won the Oscar alongside Riz Ahmed for their 2022 short film “The Long Goodbye” and recently directed the Ahmed-starring “Hamlet.”
As the film shows, having made his money in the “lucrative” world of private care homes, Lyle, a proud flag-waving and full English breakfast-eating Brit, now wants to help his country overcome its deep-rooted problems, problems he blames squarely on immigration.
“I’m not against different cultures, I’ve done tapas.” he says.
While it’s not explicitly said, it’s very clear from the film that Lyle is a candidate for Reform UK, Nigel Farage’s right-wing party that has recently seen in surge in the support and is expected to see heavy wins at the upcoming local elections on May 7.
Described as “simultaneously sincere and restrained, acidic and dark humoured,” the film sees Lyle accidentally order miniature Union Jack flags to hang above a motorway, make up fictitious stories about his family in order to criticise hotels housing asylum seekers and — in one moment — espouse out-and-out racism.
“I wanted to explore the rise and normalisation of far-right politics in the UK through a very different lens to my previous short film, ‘The Long Goodbye,’” said Karia. “I was particularly interested in the figures at the centre of parties like Reform UK – how disingenuous they can be, how brazenly they cosplay as men of the people, and how their fears and vulnerabilities sit just beneath the surface. Voters feel so disenfranchised and patronised by the political establishment, and it’s understandable why people lean into the answers these movements offer. But the film keeps circling what underpins that appeal – the gap between what these figures claim to stand for and the self-interest actually driving them.”
“Vote Gavin Lyle,” was commissioned by WePresent and marks the latest collaboration between WeTransfer and Karia since “The Long Goodbye.” The film also marks WePresent’s continued collaboration with Somesuch, the production company behind “The Long Goodbye.”
“Following ‘The Long Goodbye’ we knew we wanted to work with Aneil again, and so we kept in contact over the last few years, discussing what felt right as a follow-up collaboration,” said Holly Fraser, VP content at WeTransfer.
“He is a filmmaker that is not only inspiring but also incredibly astute and brings layered meaning to his work that sits with you long after the credits roll. That is exactly what this film cleverly does — pinpoints the insidious nature of far-right movements and the creeping rhetoric that has polluted our society. Although tonally very different, like ‘The Long Goodbye’ before it, this felt like an important and urgent film to make. It’s our mission at WePresent to commission culturally relevant work that starts conversations, and it’s a privilege to be trusted with Aneil’s vision in this way.”
See “Vote Gavin Lyle” below:
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