Purple Beatz

A young woman moves to London with the intention of working in the music industry. However, she ends up going downhill.

Sarah (Jones) arrives in London from Bournemouth and joins her friend Deedee (Alexander). Sarah dreams of a career as a singer and is determined to make it happen. Initially, things go well, she gets a job at a record shop, she finds a nice boyfriend (O'Hara) and meets Russell (Andrian), a music executive who has her singing at various venues. However, Russell turns out to be a ruthless person and he ends up having very negative impact on her life, which begins to spiral out of control.

This is an emotional drama that takes place during the nineties and focuses on the music industry and how an individual's life can be affected by pressures that are applied by the ones who are inconsiderate regarding people's well-being. Initially, Sarah is a very happy and sociable person and all that changes with the appearance of Russell. She becomes disconnected from those who care about her and enters an area of the industry that she does not want: singing songs that are not to her liking and performing just for the money for someone who is mean to her. Although there are plenty of negative themes, including self-destruction, isolation and drug addiction, the narrative also shows the significance of friendship and support, of having people that can help one get through hard times and of pursuing one's goals. Sarah's inner conflict and the conflict between her and Russell are the main elements of the plot.

The cast deliver very strong performances and Jones is quite dramatic as the main character, an aspiring singer who goes downhill and must fight to get her life back on track. Andrian basically plays the antagonist and his character represents the negative side of the music industry, as he just uses Sarah to make money and is cruel to her. Alexander, Newell and O'Hara portray individuals who care for Sarah and stand by her side.

Atkins does a great job with the directing and creates some wonderful establishing shots and editor Nele Mertens develpos well-constructed montage sequences. The soundtrack is rich and contains a variety of songs and the viewers will often see Sarah singing throughout the feature, whether in front of a crowd or in a recording studio.

This film is a lot of things. It is a romance, it is a story about inner struggles, self-discovery, friendship, having a passion and it offers an insight into life working in the music industry and it shows the bad things that can happen in this industry. The movie has its downbeat moments, however it reveals that with self-esteem and the support of others, one can get through difficult times.