Film

Daphne

Name: Daphne
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Released: 2017
Cast: Emily Beecham, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Nathaniel Martello-White, Ritu Arya, Karina Fernandez

Coming-of-age

Daphne is a tightly wound character study about a woman whose glittering social life masks profound loneliness. Emily Beecham delivers a fearless, unglamorous performance as someone learning that constant motion can be a form of paralysis. It's a British indie that values awkwardness over easy answers, ideal for viewers who appreciate unsentimental portrayals of personal crisis and slow, hard-won self-awareness.

TMDb rating

2.8

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like a character-led portrait of a charming, brittle woman whose wit is doing a lot of hard work, where the comedy and the unease sit close together.

Skip it if you need plot momentum or a tidy arc, since this is a slim, observational piece that drifts through nights out and shifts and rarely pushes hard.

What it asks of you: A short, unhurried film of under ninety minutes, its attention stays on faces and small talk, so silences do more work than set-pieces.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

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Under the Skin2014

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Fish Tank2009

Andrea Arnold's raw, kinetic look at a young woman trying to escape her circumstances through dance and ambition. Like Daphne, it captures the electricity and desperation of youth with unsparing honesty.

But It's visceral and sometimes brutal. The film doesn't console you, and its ending offers no catharsis or neat resolution—just life as it happens.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Daphne

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Ascent1977

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Lady Bird2017

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But It's set in the early 2000s and anchored in a specific place (Sacramento), so the cultural particulars might feel distant. It's also considerably gentler than Daphne.

The Farewell2019

Awkwafina delivers a subtle, intelligent performance as a woman caught between worlds, trying to hold things together while falling apart. It balances comedy and heartbreak with real skill.

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Blue Valentine2010

Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams in a devastating portrait of intimacy collapsing. It's visually inventive and emotionally precise about how people stop being able to reach each other.

But It's almost punishingly sad, with no lightness to provide relief. The handheld camera work is deliberately destabilizing and won't feel restful.

Manchester by the Sea2016

Casey Affleck in a quiet, monumental performance about grief and avoidance. Kenneth Lonergan writes dialogue that sounds like real hesitation and unfinished thoughts—people unable to articulate what they feel.

But It moves very slowly and remains deliberately unclear about its central character's interior world. Some viewers find this restraint frustrating rather than moving.

Moonlight2016

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But The narrative is fragmented and interior. If you need plot clarity or explanation, you'll spend the film working to understand what's happening rather than feeling it.

Chungking Express1994

Both are centered on the experience of moving through a city without connection, using other people as temporary anesthetics for deeper loneliness. Daphne's nightlife London and Wong Kar-wai's Hong Kong are surface reflections of the same interior emptiness. Chungking expresses it through style; Daphne through uncomfortable performance.

Wong Kar-wai's kaleidoscopic, candy-colored love letter to loneliness in Hong Kong. Two cops drift through the city after heartbreak, colliding with danger and possibility in neon-soaked sequences that feel like fever dreams. Pure cinema, gorgeous and melancholic.

But The plot is deliberately thin and slippery. The film prioritizes mood and visual texture over narrative clarity. If you need to understand what's happening beat by beat, this will frustrate you.