"the cast give a truthful interpretation of their characters' feelings, Peter Mullan carries the movie on his shoulders and his portrayal of Hector is honest and real"

Written and Directed by Jake Gavin, Hector is an itinerary social journey in the life of the British homeless people.
The story focuses on Hector, a middle aged man who lives his life on the Scottish Highway, moving from one homeless shelter to the other while traveling with his small luggage, his sole possession.

Hector chose to live this kind of life after a tragic event that completely changed his existence, feeling guilty for what happened to his family, he felt the need to cut all the ties with his past in order to process the loss and to punish himself.

The camera follows Hector on his dramatic journey to redeem himself and it highlights with sensitivity a controversial topic well known by everyone: How homeless people are perceived.

In Hector the events are narrated from the protagonist's point of view. This choice allowed the story to give a voice to the less fortunate and give the audience the chance to discover a different take on who a homeless person really is.

Throughout the film, Hector meets different people and all of them have a specific idea of his situation. Some of them are kind and selfless. They help him out when he is in need without judging him or being afraid that he might steal from them. Others at first act with altruism and offer him food and shelter, but then they become cruel and mean as soon as they assume he is acting like a homeless person is depicted by society, easily assuming the worst in the blink of an eye.

What makes Hector a genuine and explicit movie is the fact that, through the cinematography and the script, Gavin exposes the reality behind this social matter without trying to sugarcoat it. Through his lens, he makes homeless people real and closer to any other person. The camera doesn't alienate them, on the contrary, it highlights how homeless people are just like everybody else. Some of them choose to live this way, and some others didn't have a choice and were forced to not have a place to call home. In their terrible situation, however, they always keep a hopeful attitude, finding strength in each other and in all the volunteers selfless enough to take care of them when they need it most.

An important role in this film is also played by the different landscapes; from the Scottish mountains to London, even the country holds a deep meaning. The desolation and wildness of the Scottish area, paired up with the constant heavy rain, stress how hard can it be to live outside without shelter. The colours are dark and gloomy and they represent graphically Hector's mood. When he goes to London instead, the Christmas lights give a hopeful tone to the film, the colours become warmer and the atmosphere is more optimistic. There Hector and his homeless friends have the chance to spend the holiday in a shelter, with food and new clothes to help them survive the rest of the winter.

Moreover, the cast give a truthful interpretation of their characters' feelings, Peter Mullan carries the movie on his shoulders and his portrayal of Hector is honest and real. Hector's strength shows in the way he walks and how he never lets the curveballs that life threw at him defeat him. In his eyes the suffering and regret is evident and it gives great depth to his role, making Hector a well rounded character. The rest of the cast that interacts with him throughout the movie, complement his work by transferring on the screen the connection that each character has with one another. This kind of collaboration and commitment makes this drama an authentic representation of a social matter that is being almost ignored and makes it possible for the audience to deeply connect emotionally with the story.

All in all, Hector is a film that is not scared to speak out loud and create awareness on a social matter as serious and endemic as homelessness in the UK and everywhere in the world.