Fish Tank 2010

Mia Williams is a volatile and socially isolated 15-year-old who grows up on an East London council estate, living with her single mother, Joanne, and her younger sister Tyler. The atmosphere at home is tense and unpredictable: Mia struggles to connect with her precocious little sister and endures a verbally abusive mother, while she clashes with Keely, her former best friend, and frequently browbeats Keely’s friends with provocative, combative energy. Most days find Mia in a fragile standoff with the world around her, punctuated by long, solitary sessions where she channels her restlessness into hip-hop dance rehearsals in a deserted flat above the family’s building. Before any routine shift, she steadies herself with a drink, bracing for the next flare of emotion or conflict.

Her sense of danger and defiance intensifies when she encounters a tethered horse kept by a Traveller encampment. The moment she tries to free the animal, two young men appear, and she finds herself pursued. The younger man, Billy, is the one who offers a gentler, less hostile reception, sparking a wary, fragile connection amid the tension. This encounter broadens Mia’s world just enough to remind her that there are people who don’t treat her like an obstacle or a nuisance, even as trouble seems to hover on the edges of every interaction.

Mia’s world expands further when Joanne starts dating Connor, a charming and outwardly confident man who seems to offer warmth and attention that Mia has rarely felt. He notices her dance talent and invites the family to join him on a countryside day-trip, introducing Mia to his favorite song, Bobby Womack’s version of “California Dreamin’”, and even showing her a practical skill—how to catch a fish with her bare hands. Although Mia remains brief and often abrupt with Connor, she is drawn to the possibility of approval and a sense of belonging that his attention seems to promise.

A social worker’s visit to Joanne about Mia’s possible placement in a boarding unit for disengaged teens sends Mia skittering away, desperate to preserve her autonomy. At an internet café, she spots a poster advertising for erotic dancers—a sign that the city’s desires and dangers are never far away. Escalating tensions erupt as friends of Keely confront Mia in the cafe, underscoring the fragility of Mia’s social world. Later, Mia visits Connor at work, a security guard, and their relationship grows more complicated and charged as he encourages her to audition and lends her a video camera to document the process. What begins with a spark of mentorship begins to tilt toward something riskier and more intimate, as their interactions become flirtatious and clandestine.

Connor’s influence intensifies after he sensuously disciplines Mia with a flirtatious spanking, and Mia’s jealousy and anger flare when she overhears him with her mother. A dangerous mix of desire and insecurity pushes Mia toward problematic choices, including her involvement in a car-part heist with Billy’s help, a scene that hints at the thrill and danger she seeks in order to validate her own sense of self.

The club invites Mia to perform after she submits her tape, and the night of the audition arrives. With Joanne unconscious from drink and Connor and Mia both intoxicated, Connor wants to see Mia’s routine. She dances to “California Dreamin’,” the song that has threaded through their budding dynamic, but the moment the audition’s true nature becomes clear—an erotic showcase—Mia’s hesitation surfaces, and she leaves the stage with a quiet, undeniable sense of deflation and disillusionment.

Seeking solace, Mia heads to Billy’s home only to find that the horse has been put down. The news devastates her, and she breaks down, a moment of raw sadness and longing that underscores the ache at the heart of her life. Billy suggests they should leave for Cardiff, offering a chance at a new beginning. Mia returns home to prepare, and in a rare moment of unity, she and Joanne’s younger daughter Tyler join in a synchronized dance to Nas’s “Life’s a Bitch,” a brief, fragile bridge between the sisters. The prospect of leaving behind the estate becomes real as Mia and Billy head toward Wales, a move that promises escape but also a new set of uncertainties.

Throughout, the story remains focused on Mia’s struggle to navigate a world that oscillates between care and cruelty, opportunity and threat, longing and isolation. Her journey is not a sudden transformation but a sustained fight to find a place where she can belong, to be seen, and to decide her own path—even if that path takes her away from the only home she has ever known.