Set in a Cornish fishing village that is slowly succumbing to gentrification, Mark Jenkin’s first feature film “Bait”, has won plaudits and awards wherever it has been shown. It arrives in Luxembourg for three screenings as part of the official competition at the Luxembourg City Film Festival.

“Bait” is a slow-burn drama that beguiles with its visual audacity and a carefully weighted script. Shot in black and white on 16mm camera, the film also features overdub dialogue that some audience members may find unsettling at first. Its story of the struggle of fisherman Martin Ward (Edward Rowe) in the face of a changing world beyond his control may feel like a nod to Italian neorealism, and the strange dubbing only adds to the impression that this is a “foreign” film. But it is in fact a very British film that also acknowledges cinema in the tradition of what has been termed “folk horror” (though there is no graphic violence here).

Watch the “Bait” trailer

There is no love lost between Martin and his brother, Steven, is now using the family fishing boat to take tourists out into the picturesque bay where they live. Martin feels Steven is betraying tradition for the sake of profit. And he also feels resentment towards the middle-class family from London to whom he has sold his home. “You didn’t have to sell us this house,” the mother of the family tells Martin. “Didn’t we?” is his smart reply. The implication being that gentrification has left the locals at the mercy of those rich outsiders who are using the village at their pleasure.

Tensions threaten to boil over when a relationship blossoms between the rich couple’s daughter and Steven’s son. Jenkin, with the help of his leading actors, manages to elicit a simmering menace in everyday scenes, and the audience is in tenterhooks whenever town folk and tourists meet.

It is Jenkin’s original approach to visual storytelling that marks “Bait” as a film that will be talked about for years to come. The perfect framing of long shots to set mood and the economic use of close-ups of his lead actors’ charismatic faces during the more dramatic scenes shows an understanding of film that is rare for many directors making their debut. It is, quite simply, unmissable.

“Bait” is screening on Friday 6 March at 6.30pm at the Cinémathèque. It is also on 7 March at 6.30pm at Ciné Utopia and on 11 March at 2pm at the Cinémathèque. Actor Edward Rowe will be at the 6 & 7 March screenings for a Q&A.

Delano will pick a film of the day from the programme every day throughout the Lux Film Fest.