Mission review: George MacKay is transcendent in this fever dream about living

Content warning: suicide, self-harm.

By no means a light watch but an important and timely one, Mission sees a young man struggling to feel connected to society, contemplating dying by suicide but giving himself one week to convince himself to stay alive .

Written and directedy with disorientating flair by Scottish director Paul Wright ( Arcadia ), this BBC -produced film explores the personal and social reasons behind suicidal behaviour through the experience of Dylan (a phenomenal George MacKay).

It's not a sensational, generalised depiction of mental health , but instead a splintered, chaotic endeavor to visually render one person's complex perspective.

SEE ALSO: 21 reasons to keep living when you feel suicidal MacKay, who starred in Wright's For Those in Peril back in 2013, gives a mercurial performance as a man vehemently trying to find meaning in a world he feels alienated from.

Dylan yearns for the reality of his younger self, free of inhibition and full of wonder, and he scorns conformity.

But where is the line between uninhibited whims and total anarchy? Dylan will test both his own and societal boundaries in a week-long crusade, which sees whimsy and transgression at either end of a slippery slope.

Mission is as much a film about death as it is about life.

Rosy McEwen as Claire in "Mission." Credit: BBC Dylan's "mission" is to live, in every sense of the word, through experiences he's never allowed himself to have.

Feeling stuck in his waiter job and overwhelmingly lonely and rudderless, he struggles to find a sense of purpose.

Here, MacKay imbues Dylan's physicality with monotonous, mechanical movements and blank stares, flicking lights on and off, and internalising his rage over incessant phone vibrations and drilling outside his apartment.

Through voiceover, we gain insight into Dylan's inner turmoil as if we're reading his diary: "I don't know how to live in this world the way it is," he says, longing for a way to connect.

He's buoyed by two people, his friend and co-worker Becky ( Bridgerton 's Emma Naomi), whom he clearly has feelings for, and his sister Claire ( Scarpetta 's Rosy McEwen), whose connection with Dylan has deep roots.

Through sweet home video flashbacks (and adorable performances from youngsters Oliver Boyd and Matilda Thomson), Wright weaves Dylan and Claire's relationship as one of childhood magic, silliness, and creative expression.