Rough Trade

LONDON TO BRIGHTON (2006) (B) - Pulp fiction avoids falling into lurid sex and violence in this tale of a young prostitute and a 12-year-old street kid on the lam after a bloody episode with a kinky john.

Writer-director Paul Andrew Williams has a fine touch with dialogue and character drawing. Johnny Harris strikes a perfect balance as the bumbling heavy. Sam Spruell is frightening as the mob boss and son of the skeevy victim of the girls.

Lorraine Stanley and Georgia Groome are endlessly appealing as the Mutt & Jeff women on the run. Williams uses flashbacks to snip apart the narrative. He also relies more on menace than actual violence, which is refreshing.