Critic Reviews

• Tom Huddlestone, Time Out

  In terms of character development and story the film is unspectacular and often rather blunt - one final-act twist feels shoehorned in to shock. But this is a well observed and likeable slice of DIY cinema.

• Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film

  By keeping the central theme simple, Edgar and his team are free to explore the nature of the relationships and the characters in the classroom alongside bigger themes such as attitudes to disability from within the community and without.

• Stella Papamichael, Film4

  Edgar gets a gold star for this cheeky send-up of the champagne socialists who make miserable films about (supposedly) miserable people.

• Kevin Maher, Times [UK]

  Ironically, he's exactly like Special People itself, which is trying so hard to say something profound about disability that it has forgotten to be a drama in the first place.

• Xan Brooks, Guardian [UK]

  At times Special People feels hobbled by the very political correctness it wants to poke fun at; still, it's nicely observed and crisply played, gently confounding a gaggle of prejudices during the course of a svelte 81-minute run.

• David Gritten, Daily Telegraph

  Well-meant but gruel-thin British comedy in which a failed film-maker helps wheelchair-bound teenagers to make a movie.

• Tim Evans, Sky Movies

  There's a refreshing lack of political correctness about Justin Edgar's budget comedy - it's an unflinching portrayal of the disabled as fully-functioning - and sometimes quite appalling - human beings and a droll challenge to lazy preconceptions.

• , Daily Mirror [UK]

  Now here's a little gem. Although shot for peanuts with a no-name cast, it'd take a very hard person not to thoroughly enjoy this heartwarming yarn.

• Derek Malcolm, This is London

  We are allowed to forget the wheelchairs and see the people in them, while still remembering the prejudices many have about the disabled.

• Matthew Turner, ViewLondon

  Engaging, nicely acted and sharply written comedy that imparts an important message while delivering several good laughs.

Read all 10 critic reviews