What a dismal, deadening life -- at least in Essex, east of London, as depicted in "Fish Tank", and probably in all small cities throughout England.  Well, maybe it's bad all over.  But let's not get into economics and politics now. 

     Back in the early 1960's, England developed a unique subgenre - the "Angry Young Man", and the girls were represented by people like Rita Tushingham (A Taste Of Honey).  Whereas, back then the famous "gaze", staring out into nowhere and dreaming of a better life, was perfected by Ms. Tushingham and copied by all budding actresses of her generation, Mia, the protagonist in "Fish Tank" attacks whole gaggles of girls, defies her mother, shuns her sister and aerobicizes her demons into submission with her endless street danciing practice in an abandoned apartment.

      If people in England's pre-Beatles '60's were angry, the people who inhabit cities like Essex today are downright furious, even more alienated and hopeless.  Mia (Katie Jarvis) is so angry, so representative of her time and place, that it's hard to empathize with her.  But through the course of the film, we find she's not completely deadened yet.  She wants to help a horse in a garbage strewn field that she thinks is being abused.  She also wants to compete in a dance contest with the hope of bettering her situation and she finds compassion and a glimmer of a better future with her mom's new boyfriend (Michael Fassbender).

      Perhaps Mia will or won't find a better life, but Katie Jarvis has.  Jarvis, an unemployed drop out who had no intention of becoming an actor, was found in a train station arguing with her boyfriend by director Andrea Arnold's (Red Road) casting people.  Since her very admirable performance in "Fish TanK" (which screened at the 2009 Mill Valley Film Fesitval among others), she has earned several acting nominations and awards.  So, no matter what happens to the character in "Fish Tank", the story has a happy ending.