Synopsis
An endearing outlier, Brian lives alone in a Welsh valley, inventing oddball contraptions that seldom work. After finding a discarded mannequin head, Brian gets an idea. Three days, a washing machine, and sundry spare parts later, he’s invented Charles, an artificially intelligent robot who learns English from a dictionary and proves a charming, cheeky companion. Before long, however, Charles also develops autonomy. Intrigued by the wider world — or whatever lies beyond the cottage where Brian has hidden him away — Charles craves adventure.
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Cast
- David EarlBrian
- Chris HaywardCharles
- Louise BrealeyHazel
- Jamie MichieEddie
- Nina SosanyaPam
- Lynn HunterWinnie
- Lowri IzzardKatrina
- Mari IzzardSuki
- Cara ChaseJune
- Sunil PatelPhil
Recommendations
- 80
Slashfilm
An endlessly charming, funny, and delightfully lo-fi British comedy. - 77
Paste Magazine
Brian and Charles isn’t striving to be a technical achievement, and it works well as a thoughtful, sentimental, funny, uplifting buddy comedy. It’s quite a feat for a feature debut, and is guaranteed to leave you waiting for what Jim Archer will do next. - 75
Movie Nation
It’s all of a piece, and just as charming and engrossing as a silly mockumentary about a robot maturing from boot-up to rebellious teens can be. No, Wales doesn’t come off as anything but grey and repressed and backward. But whatever Brian and Charles don’t do for Welsh tourism they more than make up for in warm, goofy entertainment value. - 70
Screen Daily
Comedy is a serious business and it is Earl and Hayward’s deadpan delivery, coupled with Archer’s maintenance of a documentary shooting style in the face of the ridiculous, that ensures the situation generates physical and verbal laughs. - 70
Variety
A deceptively unserious movie it may be, but Brian and Charles leaves a serious trace through its pure sense of optimism. - 70
TheWrap
Earl and Hayward developed these characters first as a live stand-up show and then in a short film, and natural chemistry and cheeky rapport make “Brian and Charles” a laugh-out-loud comedy. - 68
Polygon
The warmth and tenderness with which the film explores the relationship between Brian and his creation are real. - 67
The Film Stage
Brian and Charles didn’t need to be a feature. It could have continued to peacefully and joyfully exist as a short, and its material stretches the story thin as a sheet in this extended form. But the charm and fun of its story outweighs a scrawny narrative.
