Pusher

Pusher begins with two students, Al and Nick dancing in a crowded club. The sexual tension between them is electric, yet unspoken. Nick and Al each drop a tab. The club spins out of existence. Then, a turn for the worse. Down a bad-trip rabbit hole Al goes. He bolts the hell out of there and walks in the dark, alone, more lost than found. As Manchester’s landmarks come into view, Al becomes increasingly paranoid. Everything seems to stare back at him.

Al relieves himself at the edge of a murky dock. In the background, nearby lights frizzle and flash, then explode. Something is coming…something otherworldly. A ghastly scream consumes the air.  Al is gone. The only clues about what may have happened are ripples on the surface of the water and the glow of two submerged amber-coloured lights. Did he slip? Did he jump? Or was he pushed?

This movie offers one possible explanation for Al’s disappearance. It tells the story of Pusher as seen through the lens of Lip’s camera. He is a Manchester lad with more verve than Richard Ashcroft and dreams of one day becoming the best street photographer the world has ever seen. That is his mission.

He must first buy a camera. Easier said than when you’re a cash-strapped pot-washer. After a foot-stomping tour of Manchester, Lip finds himself inside a boutique camera shop. It is obvious he cannot afford to buy anything.  Even so, a Shopkeeper pities him and hands over a bashed-up 1980s Nikon F3. ‘This Camera will take you places you wish you hadn’t been and show you things you wish you hadn’t seen,’ the Shopkeeper warns.

Lip leaves the shop with moonshot ambition. Disaster strikes. A courier, Max, catches the camera strap with her bike. The F3 flies into the air, hits the ground hard and smashes to smithereens. His dream is dead. On the upside, a love-spark ignites between Lip and Max and their quirky affair blossoms, for a while…

After scooping up F3 pieces, Lip attends a godawful Manchester Photography Society meeting. He slips into the back and sits with his peers, Fujisusie, Leicalucie, Tstoptoni and Lowisomo. Not only do they brag about their swanky cameras, but they also put Lip and his broken F3 down. In their view, he is not one of them, his face doesn’t fit, and he doesn’t have what it takes to become a photographer. Where Lip comes from, that’s fighting talk. He must prove them wrong.

On his way home, Lip has a crisis of confidence, almost tossing the F3 into a bin. Suddenly, nearby lights frizzle and flash, then explode. Something or someone wants Lip to keep the camera. Scared, he races to his dingy subterranean apartment. Lip lays out F3 pieces on his desk. He attempts to put them together but soon gives up and falls into a drunken stupor.

The following morning, a miracle has happened. The F3 is fully restored. Lip’s dream is alive. He is drawn to Canal Street – Manchester’s gay village. Here, Lip has a run-in with Lowisomo, a punter and Detective Sergeant Cassidy, who warns him to steer clear of the place. Lip presses on regardless and lingers on a bridge overlooking a canal. Then it happens. Lip witnesses Pusher drown another man. The F3 makes sure the moment is captured on film forever.

Lip’s dream becomes an obsession to capture Pusher on film once more. Nothing else matters. Not even his life. Lip pursues Pusher and Pusher pursues Lip. Tragically, Max is drowned. Lip was there. The F3 caught it all. Cassidy has the evidence. What cost is Lip willing to pay for his dream to become reality? His freedom? His life? Or something else?