The Little Things & The Death of the House Party (2024): Two From Liverpool, With Love

I’m based in a little town called St Helens in Merseyside and, as regular readers of my reviews here at The Geek Show will know, that has made me ideally placed to be something of a local correspondent and champion of the increasingly exciting and steadily growing filmmaking community in nearby Liverpool. Previous reviews I have written on this site for such productions as the Amazon Prime comedy series Birchall’s Pints by the filmmaking collective known as Some Guys with a Camera, the heartfelt drama Baby Brother by Michael J. Long, the Daniel Draper directed documentaries Manifesto and Almost Liverpool 8, and Jack McLoughlin’s painfully accurate romance Kate & Jake, all stand testament to this thriving and diverse creative scene, as indeed do my reviews on Letterboxd for the films showcased by M62 Presents, a YouTube channel and central hub for northern independant filmmaking talent.

What may not initially be clear from those reviews I’ve outlined above is how supportive this scene actually is. To wax lyrical for a moment, Liverpool is a city built on solidarity and community and this mindset is easily apparent in this growing scene, with a pool (pun not intended) of filmmakers coming together with their shared love of movies to help one another in their endeavours. A look at the credits for some of those productions I have reviewed will tell you that there’s a near incestuous level of personnel behind the cameras, as the same names crop up time and again. In particular, the name of Thomas Elliott Griffiths can be found as first assistant director on Long’s Baby Brother, alongside Jack McLoughlin as the film’s script supervisor. Griffiths is also credited as assistant director, editor, producer and casting director on McLoughlin’s Kate & Jake. Jack McLoughlin is a name that pops up on the credits in a raft of Griffiths’ short films including Jumpers for Goalposts (producer), The Doll (script supervisor) and The Break (assistant director). It’s the latest work from both of these frighteningly talented young men that this article will take a look at.

The first is Jack McLoughlin’s latest, The Death of the House Party (which sees Griffiths serve as producer), a twenty-minute short that explores the last hurrah of a group of teenage sixth form school friends before they each go their separate ways – the fortunate ones to a variety of universities across the country, the less fortunate to a more uncertain future at home in Liverpool. The film opens with an amusing pre-credit sequence which sees Daniel Owen’s Connor patiently listening to the instructions of his parents as they prepare to leave for a night away from home. “Right, I’ve left you twenty quid in the kitchen, and don’t forget; don’t leave the telly on all night” his mother advises, quickly backed up by her husband’s blunt reminder of “That twenty quid is for food, not ale…no parties”. Connor’s mother however is more amenable, arguing that her son can have a few people round if he desires. As they head through the door, his dad makes it plain “No parties. I’m fucking warning ya”. Connor quietly watches their car leave the drive, waves them off down the street and answers the mobile phone ringing in his pocket. We cut to his friend Colin (played by Paddy Rowan, from Long’s film Big Brother, another example of the community spirit of these filmmakers) who has made the call. “Alright lad, are you still having this party after?” he asks. The camera cuts back to Connor’s drive and zooms into his reaction. A smile breaks out across his face “Yeah man, course!” Cue titles.

In that moment, McLoughlin looks as if he’s setting us up for a familiar tale of teenage Bacchanalian excess, like an episode of Skins or some National Lampoon throwback, but he wrongfoots us completely with The Death of the House Party in the manner that only a filmmaker I referred to as Liverpool’s Linklater or Cassavetes in my review of Kate & Jake could manage to do. McLoughlin’s film is indeed about teenagers embracing their freedom, but it also takes a hard, unwavering gaze at the lack of opportunities and the collapsing of their dreams and previously held certainties too. It’s a traditional teenage movie, but it foregoes a giddy, crass abandon in favour of a kind of John Hughes introspection and melancholy. The teenage experience depicted here is one that chimed with me far more than the generic Hollywood representation of cocksure self confidence that felt so unattainable as to be fantasy. We see Mikey (Joe Cowin) on the phone to his older brother, Chris (Shaun Fagan, star of BBC1 dramas Boiling Point and The Responder, as well as several of McLoughlin’s films, including Kate & Jake) relating his anxieties about starting university. We see Connor’s girlfriend Anna (Anna Miller) decline his invite to the party, explaining she was heading off to university early. Lastly, we learn that Colin’s life is in free-fall. He isn’t going to uni and is looking at a lonely future, left behind by his mates.

These issues form the crux of The Death of the House Party. Rather than enjoy their last night together, each character is plagued with doubt and uncertainty, reminding us that, beyond the outward carefree or even obnoxious outward appearances and actions, these are characters teetering on the cusp of something big and having to deal with the emotions and insecurities of that. Mikey takes himself off to Connor’s indoor pool to continue voicing his apprehension about a new start that will find himself away from home in unfamilair surroundings. His sounding board is Kacy (Millicent MacKenzie), a girl he has long carried a torch for and, as he navigates his fears, he summons the courage to finally tell her how he feels about her. Meanwhile, Connor, unable to shake the thought that Anna has broken up with him, turns to his gay friend Frankie (Dominic Murphy) for advice. Likewise, after Colin acknowledges his fear of being alone and his lack of opportunity to Connor, he too looks to Frankie for pearls of wisdom. But who can Frankie turn to for help? Certainly not a cameoing Bobby Schofield (Time, Don’t Breathe 2) as Cosmic Bob, everyone’s nightmare party guest to get cornered by! A quiet, introspective and authentic gem, The Death of the House Party once again marks McLoughlin out as one to watch.

As well as being responsible for a number of fiction shorts, the North Walian Thomas Elliott Griffiths also has an impressive array of short form documentaries of various lengths under his belt; from the ward-winning hour long Autism: A Curious Case of the Human Mind, made about his little brother’s neurodiversity and which is available on Amazon Prime, to the five minute Sticks and Feathers, which follows a hockey player’s handling of grief at losing his father, available to watch on the M62 Presents YouTube channel.

The Little Things is arguably the culmination of his talents as a documentarian and has developed a significant buzz here in the North West thanks not only to its ‘local interest’ subject matter, but also to the fact that figures such as Inside Number 9 and The League of Gentleman’s Steve Pemberton and Sorry We Missed You‘s Debbie Honeywood serve as the film’s executive producers. That local interest subject matter is Derian House, a children’s hospice in the Lancashire town of Chorley which has served North West since it first opened its doots on October 11th, 1993. The documentary tells the personal stories of the staff, families and children of Derien House, and was directly inspired by the experiences of it’s producer, Paul Woodward, who relied on Derian to help care for his son Kalel until his tragic passing in 2019. The Little Things is a real first too as, despite being asked on several occasions across its thirty-one year history, Derian House had never allowed anyone to create a documentary about their work until now.

There’s a certain degree of priming within a viewer when it comes to a film like The Little Things. Those of us fortunate enough not to have required the services of a children’s hospice will have certain connotations, expectations and preconceived ideas of what to expect and will no doubt brace themselves for tragedy and heartbreak. Griffiths is an astute enough filmmaker to meet these thoughts amongst his audience head on. The very first words you’ll hear in the movie are “It was our health visitor, at the time, who mentioned Derian House. At the start, as soon as I heard the word ‘hospice’, it was ‘no’. All I could imagine was, obviously, children, you know…dying”. We also hear from another woman who says, “I’m not gonna deny that there is sadness and there is death here, because there is. That is a really important part of why we’re here. But it’s so far removed from the rest of what’s happening here” Across the next 100 minutes we will get to know the women beyond the ‘talking heads’ status of this introductory sequence. We will come to know them as people, and connect to them, and many more, on a human level. Griffiths allows us the humbling opportunity to hear their stories, and we will absolutely shed a tear for them. But it’s important to remember the sentiment of those initial words, that there is more “happening here” than death and sadness. The Little Things absolutely shows us that Derian House can be a place for happiness, laughter, and optimism, and Griffiths’ film challenges and subverts our expectations as a result.

This is a poignant and inspiring look at the invaluable care and support that Derian House provides, not only for seriously ill children and young people, but for their families too. Through first-hand accounts, Griffiths shows us that Derian House is much more than a hospice for sick or dying children, it’s a home where both lasting memories and relationships are made, and it’s where laughter echoes off the brightly coloured walls. I didn’t expect to laugh at The Little Things, but I couldn’t help but chuckle at one staff member’s recollection of mild panic when, on an outing to Formby beach, her charges raced towards the sea, leaving her to think “I’ve not risk assessed this”, or how a swipe card can go routinely missing in the ball pool.

It’s also a film that gives you the opportunity to reconsider so much, as evinced in one father’s claim that the hospice serves as a means to destigmatise sickness and disability; “My boys are seeing children with different challenges…they’re growing up to understand, starting to ask questions and learn…that’s down to Derian House. It’s helping is to teach our kids to hopefully be good, accepting people”. Using his unique access within the hospice, Griffiths showcases the incredible range of services that are offered by the exceptionally dedicated team of caregivers, ranging from therapies, play and leisure activities, trips out and opportunities, all of which designed for children and families to make the most of the time they have together.

Making the most of the time they have together. Sadly, there’s just no getting away from the fact that, if you find yourself at Derian House, you are clearly in a situation such as respite, palliative, or end of life care. The beaming smiles and peals of laughter inevitably coexist with the tragedy of serious illness and the unimaginable grief of losing a child. Griffiths is an empathetic and respectful documentarian who gently coaxes out stories of overwhelming loss and unwavering love from his interviewees with an innate understanding, tact, and skill-set seemingly beyond his years. The honest and emotionally raw experiences delivered here will tug at your heartstrings, but it is both humbling and an honour to bear witness to the testimonies of these parents and to see the incredible strength and resilience that they possess, a quality I know that their children shared with them, right up to the very end.

An intimate and compassionate, skilfully crafted and emotionally resonant tribute to the invaluable work done by Derian House, The Little Things is a thought provoking and deeply moving cinematic experience. It receives its premiere at the Curzon Bloomsbury in London’s Russell Square when it hosts the third annual Docuworld Film Festival on 1st November, 2024.

Mark’s Archive – The Little Things & The Death of the House Party