History Film / FishTank

* NonIndicativeName: Is there a fish tank in this movie? No. Are fish tanks even discussed in this movie? Also no. The title [[DoubleMeaningTitle refers to]] the isolated world of Mia and her hopes of escaping a dreary environment with the better world always clearly visible but forever blocked by the invisible barriers of money, class and opportunity.

The headbutting gets Mia a ticket to reform school, much to the unconcealed delight of Joanne. Mia has her own dreams of getting out of the neighborhood through her aspirations of being a hip-hop dancer, which she constantly practices. But another possible way out enters her life in the form of Conor (Creator/MichaelFassbender), Joanne's handsome, charming new boyfriend, who for a little while appears to be a possible father figure to Mia. But Conor is not all that he seems.

* FemaleGaze: Mia's gaze, and consequently the camera, often lingers on [[Creator/MichaelFassbender Conor]]'s [[MrFanService body]].

* KitchenSinkDrama: The story is set in a working-class East London environment. Mia is very much an angry misfit and the film realistically depicts her bleak surroundings.

* ParentalNeglect: Joanne holds wild alcohol-soaked parties in the apartment while the kids are home. She has sex at home, without even bothering to close the bedroom door. She's gleeful at the prospect of sending Mia off to board at a referral unit.[[note]]a British reform school, that is[[/note]]
* APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy: Mercifully the camera cuts away, but Joanne's party was clearly devolving to an orgy, with her children still in the apartment confined to their rooms. Lots of people grinding sensually on each other. Mia is able to filch a bottle of vodka from the party because the man next to it is fingering a woman.

* ShadesOfConflict: [[spoiler:Conor is a scumbag who deserves to go to jail for statutory rape. But having a stranger take your child away and nearly drown her in the river is also bad]].

* TeensAreShort: Averted. Katie Jarvis (Mia) stands 174 cm (5'8.5") and looks pretty tall, especially next to her mother.

** The scene where Mia is showing off her dance moves for Conor is lit only by a single street light from the street below, leaving Conor's face half in shadow, [[spoiler:contributing to the air of wrongness about the whole scene. [[CoitusEnsues Illegal sex follows]].]]

''Fish Tank'' is a 2009 film written and directed by Andrea Arnold.

It is set in the UsefulNotes/CouncilEstate of Mardyke (since demolished) in East London. The popular stereotype of a council estate is one of grim poverty and despair, and so we find one Mia Williams, a 15-year-old girl. Mia is a juvenile delinquent who smokes, drinks, curses like a sailor, and has a habit of resolving conflicts by headbutting people in the nose. The main reason for this, besides the general hopelessness of her surroundings, is her thirtyish mother Joanne, who smokes, drinks, curses like a sailor, and has a habit of hosting wild parties in the apartment with little regard to Mia or Mia's preteen sister Tyler.

The headbutting gets Mia a ticket to reform school--she'll be boarding there, much to the unconcealed delight of Joanne. Mia has her own dreams of getting out of the neighborhood and aspires to be a hip-hop dancer, which she constantly practices. Another possible way out appears in the form of Conor (Creator/MichaelFassbender), Joanne's handsome, charming new boyfriend, who for a little while appears to be a possible father figure to Mia. But Conor is not all that he seems.

See also ''Film/{{Wasp|2003}}'', Andrea Arnold's 2003 quasi-PerspectiveFlip on this film, a short film with the same setting and similar characters but posed from the perspective of the unfit mother.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Mia agrees to accompany Billy to UsefulNotes/{{Wales}}. Though she and Joanne have an acrimonious relationship, Mia joins Joanne and Tyler in an impromptu dance to Music/{{Nas}}' "Life's a Bitch." As she gets into the car with Billy, there is a hint of [[HopeSpringsEternal a brighter future]] for Mia]].

* NonIndicativeName: Is there a fish tank in this movie? No. Are fish tanks even discussed in this movie? Also no. The title [[DoubleMeaningTitle refers to]] the isolated world of Mia and her hopes of escaping a dreary environment.

* AdultFear: [[spoiler:Conor is a scumbag who deserves to go to jail for statutory rape.]] But still, [[spoiler: having a stranger take your child away and nearly drown her in the river]], that's bad.

-->'''Mia''': Your terrible dancing, that's my problem!

* FemaleGaze: Mia's gaze, and consequently the camera, often lingers on [[Creator/MichaelFassbender Conor]]'s [[MsFanService body]].

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Mia, a face full of rage, stalks across the open space between apartment buildings to call a girl named Keely a GenderedInsult.

* HumansAreBastards / BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: Mia doesn’t along well with other people, but she has a soft spot for animals, particularly the malnourished horse she finds tethered to a trailer. She unsuccessfully tries to free the horse [[spoiler: and is devastated when she later learns the horse was euthanized]].
* JitterCam: Used in the first scene of the film as Mia marches between the buildings to scream at Keely. Used again in a far darker context [[spoiler: as Mia is in the process of kidnapping Conor's little daughter Keira]].

* UseYourHead: When Mia confronts Keely's friend group, she delivers a headbutt to one of the girls who insults her. This results in a broken nose for that girl.

* AbusiveParents: Joanna, an [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]], is verbally abusive to Mia. In one scene, [[spoiler: she tells Mia she should have had an abortion when she was pregnant with her]].
* AdultFear: [[spoiler:Conor is a scumbag who deserves to go to jail for statutory rape.]] But still, [[spoiler:having a stranger take your child away and nearly drown her in the river]], that's bad.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Mia, a face full of rage, stalks across the open space between apartment buildings to call a girl named Keely a cunt.

* PanUpToTheSkyEnding: Mia, crushed by the traumatic turn of events with Conor, and facing reform school, accepts Brian's invitation to go with him to Wales. We see the truck pulling away, then a shot of a helium balloon floating up above the towers into the sky, symbolizing Mia's escape.

The headbutting gets Mia a ticket to reform school--she'll be boarding there, much to the unconcealed delight of her awful mother. Mia has her own dreams of getting out of the neighborhood, dreams of being a hip-hop dancer, something that she practices at endlessly. Another possible way out appears in the form of Conor (Creator/MichaelFassbender), Joanne's handsome, charming new boyfriend, who for a little while appears to be a possible father figure to Mia. But Conor is not all that he seems.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Mia, a face full of rage, stalks across the open space between apartment buildings to call a girl named Keeley a cunt.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Once Conor's tattoo that says "Kelly" with a heart is revealed, it becomes obvious he has something to hide. [[spoiler:Turns out he's married with a daughter.]]
* JitterCam: Used in the first scene of the film as Mia marches between the buildings to scream at Keeley. Used again in a far darker context as Mia is in the process of kidnapping Conor's little daughter Keeley.

* MathematiciansAnswer: Mia's friend Brian is hunting through a junkyard, looking for an engine part for a Volvo.

'''Brian''': Looking for a Volvo 940.\\

'''Brian''': Like a Volvo 940.\\

* NonIndicativeName: Is there a fish tank in this movie? No. Are fish tanks even discussed in this movie? Also no.

* PrimalScene: Joanne doesn't even bother to close the door, which is why Mia sees her and Conor having sex.

* UndressingTheUnconscious: Conor takes Mia's pants off when he's putting her to bed after she passes out drunk. He doesn't do anything else wrong at that moment, but the scene marks him off as a creep and foreshadows what will happen later with the two of them.
* UseYourHead: When Mia confronts Keely's friend group, she delivers a headbutt to one of the girls in response to that girl insulting her. This resulted in a broken nose for that girl.

* AdultFear: Conor is a scumbag who deserves to go to jail for statutory rape. But still, having a stranger take your child away and nearly drown her in the river, that's bad.
* ClusterFBomb: The whole family, and really just about everybody in the council estates.
--> '''Tyler''': If I'm a fuckface, you're a cuntface!
* ComfortingComforter: Subverted. Conor carries a drunk, semi-conscious Mia into her room and puts a blanket over her in Comforting Comforter style--[[DudeShesLikeInAComa but not before taking her pants off]], leaving her with only her underwear on beneath the waist. This scene color every interaction between the two of them from that point forward.

** The scene where Mia is showing off her dance moves for Conor is lit only by a single street light from the street below, leaving Conor's face half in shadow, contributing to the air of wrongness about the whole scene. Illegal sex follows.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Once Conor's tattoo that says "Kelly" with a heart is revealed, it becomes obvious he has something to hide. Turns out he's married with a daughter.

* RightThroughTheWall: What brings on the PrimalScene, as Joanne is moaning very loudly, much to Mia's displeasure.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Once Conor's tattoo that says "Kelly" with a heart is revealed, it becomes obvious he has something to hide. Turns out he's married with a daughter.