Based on Bea Roberts’ multi-award-winning stage play, And Then Come the Nightjars tells the story of an unlikely friendship between Michael (David Fielder), a Devon farmer and the local vet, Jeff (Nigel Hastings).
We first meet the pair when Jeff attends at Michael’s farm to cull his precious herd during the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001.
It’s obvious from the outset that both men have a long bond of friendship and we follow them through various ups and downs over the next couple of decades. Michael, who by all accounts should be retired, is recently widowed lives a lonely life on the farm where other than Jeff his only companions are his cows. Jeff, a younger man, has a drink problem that is effecting his marriage.
We follow the pair as the years pass and we interlope on their lives as they attend weddings, parties and just have general chit chat about how farm life isn’t what it used to be.
Fielder and Hastings are both good in their roles, Fielder in particular is a standout as the grouchy old farmer.
Despite being set in the wild rolling fields of Devon, And Then Come the Nightjars never quite manages to free itself from the shackles of being based on a stage play. Whilst it might have felt intimate in a theatre on the big screen it can feel slightly less involving.
If you can track down And Then Come the Nightjars at your local cinema then it’s certainly worth a few hours of your time. Jus
