Peter Mullan anchors the story of a homeless man whose tragic past is catching up with him in Jake Gavin’s Hector. A portrait of an invisible man and an authentic account of homelessness within contemporary Britain, Hec McAdam is at once a powerful character study and an insight into the lives of those on the margins.

Hector stars Peter Mullan, Keith Allen and Natalie Gavin and tells the story of the titular character, an elderly vagabond who is making his way from Scotland to London to spend Christmas at a homeless shelter. It’s a trip which Hector undertakes every year, only this time he does it after receiving news that he requires an operation in the new year. He doesn’t take his diagnosis very well and during his trip to London, he begins to make an effort to reconnect with people from his past.

The strength of Hector lies in Peter Mullan’s performance as the homeless peripatetic. He could have easily overplayed this character as a means to draw sympathy from the audience, but due to Mullan’s understated take on the character, it avoids feeling contrived. First time writer and director Jake Gavin avoids tugging too hard on the heartstrings of his audience and instead, surprisingly, offers us a mature story. Whilst Gavin is incredibly respectful of the subject matter, he doesn’t allow that to compromise the film. The characters we meet on the street, including Hector, are depicted with all their shortcomings intact. After all, it would be doing the homeless community a disservice not to portray the internal strife that can condemn some to live on the streets. They are shown as human beings, not just as victims, a balance that is struck very well.

Hector meets an array of characters on his journey, many of whom are prior acquaintances of his. The sweetest moments can be found in the honest portrayals of the camaraderie shared among the homeless community. The banality and tedious nature of living on the street does take it toll, and there are a few heart wrenching moments of anguish and pain, but there are also moments of respite. In the space of a few days we are afforded a glimpse into the life of the homeless, and in many ways it mirrors that of the everyday rat race we are familiar with. Hector has his daily routines such as performing his ablutions and meeting up with his friends, he collects his pension and he keeps mementos from his past and shares that his life is not so alien.

The film does have a somewhat monotonous feel. Because Gavin never allows his story to gain enough emotional momentum, the tone begins to feel dreary at times. Also, I believe the camera could have been used more effectively to capture the despondency felt by the characters. The film missed out on an opportunity to bring the audience closer to the experience of the homeless, and perhaps a more experienced director would have had the confidence to capture that more poignantly.

It’s hard to share too much about the plot without risking spoiling the story. At the beginning, we know very little about Hector and it through the coarse of his road trip that his past is revealed. Whilst it might not have the timeless power of a Mike Leigh or Ken Loach film, it still captures an often ignored reality and gives the homeless a human face. We see that those that are abandoned on the street are not cut from a different cloth, and that still waters can certainly run deep.

Few will choose Hector in lieu of the other Christmas titles available this year and it appears that the hoi polloi would rather ignore this serving of social realism, offered with minimal conceit and delivered with artistic integrity. Given its subject matter, it is hardly a shock that Hector has seen such a limited release but deserves to be seen by a wider audience.

To conclude, Hector does succeed due to its characters. It has a specific demographic, as was demonstrated to me in the cinema: it was occupied by 15 patrons (I counted) and each one was at least 40 years old. However, I would recommend it to people of all ages. There’s enough charm found in Hector to keep the average movie-goer entertained, and at 87 minutes long, it doesn’t overstay its welcome.