Aneil Karia is good at putting people under pressure and keeping their behaviour believable. We rate his work with actors, though sustained anxiety can become wearing; The Gold offers a more inviting way in.
Fi1m perspective
The pleasure of The Gold (2023) is watching people work out how to shift stolen gold. We were entertained by the business itself, because the plotting gives the ensemble something worth getting on with. Aneil Karia directed three episodes of Neil Forsyth’s crime series, and its attention to people working under pressure makes sense for him. We recommend the first series, with patience required for the lectures about class.
The short films Beat (2013) and Work (2017) came before television work that included the final three episodes of Top Boy (2019). His recurring interest is in city life and people struggling to find a comfortable place in it. His first feature, Surge (2020), narrows the attention to one man’s experience of London. The commitment to anxiety is also a limitation: sustained stress can become wearing, however convincingly the actors convey it.
The Long Goodbye (2020), co-written with and starring Riz Ahmed, makes clear how important the actor is to Karia’s approach. Karia works from naturalistic performance towards something more intense, asking the acting to carry the change of tone. That close work with performers is what we value most: a shift in behaviour needs to feel believable before it can be unsettling. The short’s storytelling is less convincing than its handling of actors, which is a substantial reservation even in a short film.
With The Gold, those acting skills have to serve an ensemble and the business of a crime plot. Our recommendation is for the series as a whole; Forsyth and the ensemble deserve their share of the credit. The plotting is a substantial part of the pleasure, and the lectures are frustrating partly because there is already enough to follow without them. Start with the first series, and give it a little patience when the business stops for a lecture.
Biography
Aneil Karia is a British director and writer. He was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, in 1984 and attended Ipswich School. He studied journalism at the University of Leeds before training in television production and directing at the National Film and Television School.
Karia began his career directing music videos, advertisements and short films, including Beat (2013) and Work (2017). He directed episodes of the series Lovesick, Pure and Top Boy (2019). His short film The Long Goodbye (2020), which he co-wrote and directed, won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 2022. He made his feature debut with Surge (2020) and directed three episodes of the BBC series The Gold (2023).
