Byline TV debuted its Brexit documentary to a packed-out Prince Charles Cinema on Monday.
Boasting a better turnout than the Tory Party Conference, the media outlet looked to contrast the Brexit optimism being pitifully peddled in the North West with a healthy dose of Brexit realism as they travelled from Brixham to Grimsby to tell tales of Bregret.
Farmers who have seen trade deals with Australia and New Zealand threaten to flood the market with cheap, hormone-treated meat spoke of the challenges that lie ahead, while fishermen expressed remorse over being easily led by a blonde buffoon in a Portwest coat.
Others who were sold on £350 million a week for the NHS expressed dismay at how badly the health service had been treated since, a feeling that can only have been made worse by comments made by Michael Gove this week.
The documentary, narrated by Mike Galsworthy and directed by Caolan Robertson, sets out to discover “what really happened since the UK left the EU on the 31st December 2020” and “how we get out of it” according to the synopsis, and while it succeeds in spades in delivering the first part, the second deserves a documentary in its own right.
The voice of young people, for example, many of whom have seen their former freedoms stripped without a say since 2016, represent a new hope, while a more upbeat film lies in store for the day the empire strikes back.
Galsworthy and the Bylines team have laid the foundations for what promises to be a compelling series with a visceral and at times heart-wrenching account of the real-life consequences of political decisions. The question on all of our lips is, what’s next?
Betrayed: The Brexit Documentary was screened in front of a limited audience for the purposes of feedback. The full release is now in the works.
Related: The Death of the Tory Party