“A lot of people have said, ‘I’m going to call my mum,’ after watching it”: Paul Andrew Williams and Jason Watkins on Dragonfly at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

In a powerful exploration of trust and the desperate need for connection in a world that often overlooks the vulnerable, Paul Andrew Williams’s Dragonfly follows the tentative relationship between two isolated women: Elsie (Brenda Blethyn), an octogenarian widow receiving minimal support from her distant son John (Jason Watkins) and the carers he hires, and her enigmatic neighbour Colleen (Andrea Riseborough), whose only close companion is her Bully breed dog, Sabre.

Ahead of the film’s premiere at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, director Paul Andrew Williams and actor Jason Watkins spoke with The Upcoming, discussing the failures of the social care system, misconceptions surrounding Colleen and Sabre, the symbolic connection between the ephemeral nature of dragonflies and the relationship between Elsie and Colleen, and how the film inspired many viewers to call their mothers.

Christina Yang

Dragonfly does not have a release date yet.