Sundance 2023

"Scrapper" is a cute and effective little character drama starring newcomer Lola Campbell who carries the film in every sense as the grieving Georgie, left alone when her mother dies. She gets by stealing bicycles and pawning or selling them for scrap. She is intelligent and resilient, and capable of surviving on her own. Still, when her estranged father (Harris Dickinson) comes back into her life, it opens the possibility that she may need (or, rather, want) someone to take care of her. Mostly predictable, but it's still a charming story, and when the voicemail scene hit, I was caught off guard by how moving that scene would be. I would have liked to have gotten more background on Dickinson's character. There was potential for him to have an equally compelling arc, but as it stands, Lola's performance and Georgie's story were considerably well done. 

— 4 / 5 ⭐