Everybody’s Child will teach you that there is a completely different world out there to the cosy campus most students know. In the first fifteen minutes the unsuspecting student will learn more new things than they usually do in a day and that is just about the city. What follows is a harrowing, powerful description of one man’s life, an addiction to drugs, and the social relations which result from a life in a care system which failed him.
The beginning of this docu-film acts as a social commentary on the side of society that is avoided by most of the students and the middle class of the city.
The film moves on from this wider social commentary to a more detailed analysis of Garry’s life, revealing glimpses of his past that are harrowing. We see the recovering form of a man still tormented by an addiction to drugs, his past crimes as a heroin dealer and a depression problem. The film’s position as a documentary whilst seemingly rudimentary works to create a personal style, where viewers are being allowed to see a different side of the social divide up close.
This is a truly revealing documentary about the past and present of Edinburgh’s drug problem. The film flows with an almost lyrical fashion, with writing that beautifully articulates one troubled man’s life.
Garry Fraser has opened up with this big screen debut, showing himself as a victim of the system into which he was pushed. He builds a heart achingly revealing account of his struggle which so many others went through and still do.