Ill Manors review

Director: Ben Drew
(2012)

Despite his primary occupation as a musician, Ben ‘Plan B’ Drew is also a half decent actor, playing key roles in films such as Harry Brown (2009) and this years The Sweeney.  The 29 year old seemingly isn’t content and has delivered Ill Manors, his directorial debut. For a first effort, it’s certainly a solid film.

Set in the rough end of London, Ill Manors is an interlocking mosaic of a film, portraying characters lives as they collide together, like P.T Andersons Magnolia (1999) but with more swearing. While screentime is split well between the multitudes of characters, our protagonist can be identified as Aaron (Riz Ahmed), a young man tangled up with the drugs and violence of his neighbourhood. His friend Ed (Ed Skrein) is a racist thug and drug dealer, but a friend none the less. Over the course of the film they interact with hookers, drug addicts, gangsters, children trying to live the street life, pub owners and kids that struggle with the affects their neighbourhood has on them.

Make no mistake, Ill Manors is gruesome and gritty, and while it can be slightly over the top, it isn’t a pleasant film to sit though. Throughout its 2 hour run time we witness murder, assault, sex rings and drug abuse. Drew paints a gritty neighbourhood filled with some truly horrible characters; a permanent attempt to make every scene hit as close to the bone as possible. This is primarily the failing of Ill Manors; it wants every scene to be harrowing and uncomfortable. The incessant foul language (the first piece of dialogue features the word ‘cunt’), perpetually angry thugs complete with shaven domes and whores who fall asleep with needles lodged in their arms is intended to be upsetting stuff, but it really isn’t. Drew shows no signs of pacing these horrors, and within minutes we’re accustomed to the myriad of swearing and violence. You can show me a prostitute being beaten by a Russian gangster, but the brutality of the scene is rendered weightless by the films monotone pacing of its violence.

By using rap music to fill in the backstory of the films characters, we have a film that's crammed with remarkable characters without the burden of a bloated running time. Drew wrote and performed the songs himself, aptly transferring his talents from the music industry onto the big screen with aplomb. These raps are accompanied with sped up footage that charts that characters life up to the point where they are now, and the depth this brings to the film is insightful and refreshing.

While mostly adhering to a linear chronology, Ill manors occasionally leads one story arc to its climax and leaves it so simmer while another is developed. These 2 strands will then collide ferociously; viciously smashing its audience is scenes of powerful drama. Hardly an original device, it’s handled excellently, with the aftermath acting as excellent motivation for another plot arc to progress. But due to the overload of violence that seeps into every pore of the rest of the films scenes, these mini climaxes engage rather that engross, a sign that Drew almost had no intention of being restrained.

Culminating with a climax that wraps its plots up a little too cleaning considering the filthy subject matter, we’re served once more with a scene that doesn’t hit its lofty potential. And that's what makes Ill Manors so very frustrating. Drew does so much right, and it’s obvious that he put his talent and a huge amount of effort into every scene. He just slights the quality of the film by trying to smash his audience over the head with his portrayal of the slums of London. Ill Manors is on the tip of sheer brilliance, and with some more experience there's no doubt in my mind that Drew will deliver something truly special. Until that time comes, this will micro budget drama will certainly do.

6