Literalism is the big word here. Gypo was the first British example of a Dogme 95 film. Dogme 95 was basically a charter of filmmaking drawn up by directors Lars Von Trier and Thomas Vinterburg, with ten rules. Essentially the films had to be stripped of all artifice; handheld cameras had to be used throughout, only natural lighting could be used, no soundtrack. A sort of hyper-realism where the actors even wear their own clothes (though not a compulsory feature)- anything to replicate real life. Of course the irony is that it is an artistic movement but the general idea was that films were being stripped back to the stories of every day people living here and now.
A warning: you will need subtitles, because the line delivery is exactly like real life, with people gabbling and talking over each other. However saying that, this does add to the realism; director Jan Dunn does a good job of making you forget the artifice. The improvised dialogue works, probably because of the total attitude towards realism. It works a lot better than the flat improvisation of BBC series True Love (funnily enough, it was also set in Margate). Also, I enjoyed the moments without dialogue: McGann's character (underused) barely says a word, and if he does, it's a complaint. Whilst the character is just a nasty guy, it was interesting to see his perspective. This is somebody who believes that everybody wants something from him or that everybody is taken something from him, particularly immigrants/refugees- and it's a belief that controls his entire life.
McLynn is the centre of the film as the housewife trapped in a loveless marriage, constantly doing things for other people. Her attempts to find her own happiness, such as the painting class, were touchingly ordinary. Some people might argue that Helen and Tasha's friendship becoming sexual undermines the 'average life', but I think it's a nice parallel as both characters are trapped and abused by men. Tasha even remarks that Helen seems the most vulnerable.
It won't be everyone's cup of tea but I found it an interesting watch and probably good for a few rewatches.