Having You

Sam Hoare | 2013 | ★★★
After nine years together, a mild-mannered recovering alcoholic (Andrew Buchan) finally manages to pluck up the courage to propose to his beautiful doctor girlfriend (Romola Garai). However, the next morning a woman with whom he shared a one-night stand eight years previously (Anna Friel) turns up on his doorstep to inform him of the existence of their seven-year-old son. Unsurprisingly, this turn of events – complicated by his fiancée’s unexpected pregnancy – proves bitter-sweet. Despite its rather contrived plot, Sam Hoare’s feature debut proves – with beautiful pacing, noteworthy photography, and fine performances – to be emotionally credible and, indeed, even rather affecting.