Destination: Dewsbury is the story of four pals on a mission to see their dying friend one last time. Growing up in the ’80s they were inseparable, always causing mischief and throwing pranks left right and centre. They were like a dysfunctional little family. You had the leader, Frankie and then his right-hand man Adam (played by Scott and Sid’s Richard Mason). Then you had the nerd Peter, along with the court jesters Gaz and Smithy. It was never easy for the five of them, but life took its toll, school finished, and they slowly separated over time.

20 years later we find Peter (Matt Sheahan) in a bit of a pickle with work and with his wife. He’s sleeping in his car when he gets a visit from Richard (Maurice Byrne), the father of his dear old friend Frankie (Michael Linsey). It’s not good news – he’s dying. Peter is given the chance to see him one last time, so he rounds up the A-Team, Gaz (Dan Shelton), Smithy (Tom Gilling) and Adam (David J. Keogh).

As they make the grueling trip to Dewsbury, there are plenty of mishaps along the way, and they literally go through shit just to be there at the end for Frankie. Writer Aaron Nelson and director Jack Spring beautifully captures the wit and humour of four modern day men, as they make their way across the North. Of course, things go completely wrong and somehow you can’t always rely on four middle aged men to make it right again.

Destination: Dewsbury is director Jack Spring’s first feature film, which has made him one of the UK’s youngest feature film directors at the age of 22. With only a budget of an estimated £150,000, Spring managed to raise that in just over a year and started shooting right away in September 2016. The film, which was written in 2015 after Spring had left The University of York, was shot mostly in West Yorkshire.

The film is weird but wonderfully hilarious. It’s masked by a cheesy sense of humour and is comically bizarre. But at the centre of it all is something raw, emotional and heart-warming – a beautiful story of four pals on a mission to see their dying friend. It takes a look into friendship, family and how we live our life. Each character is  unique and easily identifiable. David J. Keogh and Matt Sheahan are particularly powerful with their energetic and colourful performances. It’s a film filled with laughter that’s waiting to burst out.

Destination: Dewsbury is released in cinemas on March 1st. 

REVIEW OVERVIEW
Destination: Dewsbury
Previous articleNew trailer, stills and poster released for Part II of Netflix series ‘The OA’
Next articleIdris gets his flirt on in trailer for Netflix’s Turn Up Charlie
Alex is a freelance Journalist who has been writing for HeyUGuys since 2017, after she graduated from the University of Westminster. Now CEO of Just Life Productions, Alex has started a career in producing and writing for film and TV. She has just finished producing her first award winning short film, and has started co-writing a short series which will be released on to YouTube in the near future.
destination-dewsbury-reviewThis is a fine debut that warms your heart as well as breaking it.