Precocious Kids Ponder Millions

Danny Boyle is a veteran filmmaker who specializes in the disturbing. Boyle has directed such movies as Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, and 28 Days Later, with characters ranging from crazy roommates, to heroin addicts, to zombies, so it’s surprising that his next move is in the fantasy world of Millions.

After the death of their mother, Anthony (Lewis McGibbon), Damian (Alex Etel), and their father (James Nesbitt) move to a new home and start anew. Awkward and distraught, the boys try to adjust to their new school, house, and life; they even try to solicit goodies from strangers by telling them that their mother is dead. While hanging out in his favorite spot—a hut built of cardboard boxes—a duffel bag full of cash falls upon Damian. Already a winsome dreamer and clearly disturbed by the loss of his mother, he believes this to be a sign from the saints with whom he communicates on a daily basis. Damian and his pragmatic older brother, Anthony, share in the excitement, adventures, and perils of having more money than pre-teens could ever know what to do with.

Etel is simply cherubic as Damian; every time he opens his mouth, he completely absorbs you in what he is saying. We even believe him when he talks to what seem to be flesh and blood manifestations of the saints (he converses with a cigarette-smoking Saint Clare and distributes gifts to Mormons with Saint Nicholas). Instead of being irritating, desperate, or unbelievable, Damian’s communication with the saints is sweet because, through it, Etel shows us the source of Damian’s persistent hope.

McGibbon plays the mature and charming Anthony, who tries to get Damian to invest his money in real estate instead of contributing it to more charitable efforts, such as feeding the homeless. He constantly attempts to keep Damian’s foolish fantasies in check, until he, too, is forced to believe in more than just the logical. Unlike Etel, McGibbon is not a newcomer to acting; his sophisticated mannerisms and confidence on screen shine in his interactions with his co-stars.

Though the film is an obvious departure from Boyle’s previous work, there are stylistic similarities. In all of his films, Boyle enjoys playing with visuals so that the audience is not only guided by plot, but also what they see. For a movie like Millions, this storytelling device is crucial­—seeing really is believing. Does Damian really receive this bag full of money through divine intervention, or is that just a figment of his (and our) imagination? Frank Boyce, who penned 24 Hour Party People, adds Millions to his repertoire. Like Boyle, Boyce also takes a risk with this film, straying from familiar cinematic convention. Though Millions is not frivolous or airy, it is not heavily psychological like Boyce’s Hilary and Jackie or incomprehensibly frightening like 28 Days Later. It is, however, a heartwarming look into the world of children, thoughtfully executed by modern cinematic masters.