The Chain

Bamber leads the Lasts Removal and Storage team as they begin their round with a job in Willesden. The crew assesses the property, plans the moves, and loads the lorry for the chain’s opening link. This start sets the rhythm for the seven-household procession that follows.

Des packs up and leaves his mother’s house in Hackney, where she has rented out his old room. He is moving in with his girlfriend, a change that unsettles those left behind. He waits outside the new home and is challenged by a policeman, foreshadowing the pressures of the chain.

Keith, representing Sloth, drives a self-drive van and is moving to Willesden for his first home purchase. He crosses paths with Des as Des moves into his old flat and warns him about the landlord. En route to pick up the keys at the estate agent, they argue about whether to have children, highlighting personal strains during the move.

Dudley and Alison, with their young daughter, realize they need more space and recall memories of their daughter’s conception. Paul from Lasts visits the wrong flat, causing confusion with an old lady. Bamber moves them to Hammersmith, while their military-style granddad tries to keep the move on track.

Granddad, representing Envy, moves into the granny flat of the new property. Yet, squatters have entered his new home and changed the locks, derailing the move and heightening the tension around possession and control.

In Hammersmith, Mr Thorn embodies Avarice by insisting removal men cart away door-knobs, light bulbs, and ashes from fireplaces. His frugality clashes with the practicalities of the relocation as Bamber and crew continue the move toward 55 Christchurch Hill in Hampstead. Thorn even returns to his old house in search of elastic bands he forgot.

Two problems strike the chain when a Hampstead resident refuses to leave, leaving the Thorns effectively homeless. To make matters worse, the family has already fallen victim to a bogus removal firm that has caused them to lose possessions. The sequence showcases how deceit compounds the relocation chaos.

Bamber sits with widow Mrs Andreos in her kitchen, persuading her to move to Holland Park. He listens to stories about her late husband and Limassol, and negotiates a cash-in-hand arrangement. Mrs Andreos climbs into the removal van for a singalong of Karma Chameleon as the move begins.

The film links Mrs Andreos to Gluttony, tying her appetite for more to the tragic memory of her husband, described as a 'glutton for punishment'. The narrative uses her arc to echo the moral underpinnings of the chain. Her personal history amplifies the meaning of the removal as a social crossing.

The Holland Park family, representing Pride, moves to Knightsbridge. They feel jealousy toward a neighbour headed for Belgrave Square in Belgravia, while Deidre purchases a new Daimler. The move is framed as Holland Park becoming 'too shabby' and catalyzing a more prestigious relocation.

In Knightsbridge, Thomas, representing Wrath, talks with a friend about auctioning his belongings at Sotheby's because he is dying. He pockets only a cheap Southend-on-Sea souvenir plate and arranges for his chauffeur to take him to Quilter Street in Whitechapel, the rented room from his past.

The film closes by showing each family safe in their new homes, while an old homeless woman wraps herself in newspaper, preparing for another night on the street. Her presence threads through the entire story, underscoring the cycle’s moral underpinnings and the human cost of the chain.