Ill Manors - Film Review

Londoners have repeatedly witnessed the portrayal of our fellow controversially represented ‘chavs’ behind the gritty blocks of suburban locations such as Brixton, and Forest Gate – homeland of debut director Ben Drew, more commonly referred to by his multiplatinum stage-name Plan B. Drew’s Ill Manors presents an unnerving depiction of the social failings in London with a symbolic multi-strand narrative cleverly structured with the lives of eight characters who indulge in the ruthless, suburban phase of drugs, violence, prostitution and poverty. The film stars Four Lion’s Riz Ahmed, Red Road’s Natalie Press as well as the new-fangled albeit unvanquished likes of Ed Skrein and Lee Allen. Ben Drew develops an explicitly ultra-realistic portrayal of his hometown, one which is identified with the promotional flash-line as one of the “environments (which) are just harder to survive in”. The exposition does not hesitate to instantaneously establish the socio-political messages conveyed by Drew’s production of this urban drama, featuring the expected conventions we’ve already been exposed to by the resemblance of films such as Shank and Kidulthood, films which concentrate on manufacturing a mood of bleakness and anxiety. The composition is adorned with aggressive smokers in hoodies equipped with the stereotypical urban London dialect and lexicon, one which is vulnerable to criticism as audiences may feel overexposed to the repetitive exhibition of this particular facet of London living.

Nonetheless, Ill Manors overcomes this with an impressive plot structure, constructed similarly to Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, acknowledged for it’s multi-strand narrative to present an overview of the community represented. The actors succeed in their assignments regardless of their inexperience to the lights and cameras, a factor which merely emphasises the authenticity of Drew’s opus as to the backgrounds of the characters are correspondent to the dramatic depiction of the characters’ lives as they intensively engage in a psychological wrestling match between morals and intentions. More specifically, Aaron, who we are most primitively acquainted to at the beginning of the film, is faced with a moral dilemma of receiving a four-digit sum which will benefit him to supress the negative repercussions of his poverty-stricken lifestyle, righteously however, he chooses not to conform to the predictable decision of trading a mother’s abandoned baby for the offered payment – instead he is adamant on defying dominant associate Ed, and is determined to find the baby’s biological mother.

The narrative concludes with an interweaving involvement of the majority of the eight characters as a consequence of the many events contributing to the dramatic build-up. A mother is reunited with her kin and Aaron is placed in a cab driven by Drew’s cameo as the driver, a powerful closing metaphor to suggest personal development and self-regulated revolution as he chooses to evade from the unforgiving streets of Forest Gate. The cab escapes the trails of criminals such as Chris who is eventually persecuted despite of the insinuation that he has reformed, exhibited with dynamic cinematography as he throws a pistol into the Thames besides the East London landmark – The O2 Arena. Despite of this moral choice, in effect he is irrespectively overcome by the force of the law, a narrative decision which implies that a criminal life in London will inevitably lead to it’s warranted consequences. This political message is conveyed cinematically with a series of rapid cross-cuts which resultantly present the cyclic social hopelessness and dysfunctional system in which newer generations are helplessly sucked into.

In essence, Ill Manors can be credited as a bar-raiser for UK-based urban dramas, a claim which is justified exceptionally as a breakthrough production within the film industry. Earning wins for best cinematography as well as the 2012 Coup de Coeur and 4 award nominations including BFI’s ‘Best achievement in production’ award – marking an overall thriving response received directly from the connoisseurs of filmmaking. The captivating performances by the actors successfully elicit emotions such as empathy within the audience as well as outrage because of the sociopathic behaviour presented by the actions of the characters as they commit deeds ranging from merciless torture to the prostitution of a heroin-reliant young lady to kebab shop owners in exchange for a double-digit payment. Ben Drew manipulates this production with no doubt of the genre as all expectations are fulfilled with the harboured emotionally pulverising mood and atmosphere, conveyed with the elements of dynamic POV shots placing the audience’s throat within the grip of criminal Chris’s hands, as well as being positioned on the other side of younger Chris’s trigger. This theme of childhood and loss of innocence is featured thoroughly throughout the film’s narrative as flashbacks for the 8 primary characters are sequenced in scenes displaying hardship and self-evaluation by the characters, presenting a sense of conscience which the audience can empathise for and to some extent: pity their helpless lives. Plan B’s auditory involvement with the use of a contextually corresponding soundtrack serves as an effective means of enhancing the intent of storytelling, most particularly due to the aggression and passion apparent in the rap form of music to accompany on-screen gore and violence. Despite Ill Manors not being a particularly marketable motion piece, I would recommend it to younger audiences, most specifically Londoners as they are bound to themselves being relevant to the events depicted within the film. The production echoes the devastatingly realistic political messages concerning class and the social system in British suburbs – messages which are inevitably cyclical to the lifeline of metropolitan London until the gunshots and screams are heard clearly enough to torment the powerful figures of the portrayed society – one symbolical of many worldwide.