Review of ill manors

Ill Manors - Review

Ill manors is a movie about crime, killing, prostitutes and gang violence of a London community. The characters have to fight in order to escape from the harsh and brutal situation they will be in. Male character Ed, attempts to recover his misplaced phone by provoking crack addict Michelle to have sex with whoever comes knocking on her door, to earn money for his phone she lost. In addition, his partner Aaron experiences a serious crime of conscience. Meanwhile Jake, being the youngest character within the movie, takes his first steps into becoming a killer for hire. Furthermore, prostitute Katya tries to protect her baby from a viscous gang, who gets beaten up through the process.

The director is Ben Drew, who is also known as Plan B. He directed the following movies: The Sweeney, Harry Brown, Adulthood, Ill Manors, Turnout and 4.3.2.1. He is also a famous well-known artist who sang the songs played in the movie.  In my opinion, i think the songs played in the background really reflect the situation that  the characters are in as well as it telling the audience their past life so we know how they got into the  position they are in now. Also, it adds depth to the scene as if we really listen to the words he is singing; it creates a tense/grey atmosphere because it’s causing the audience to feel sympathy towards them.

The main stars used in the movie are Riz Ahmed (Aaron), Ed Skrein (Ed), Natalie Press (Katya), Anoushka Mond (Michelle), Nick Sager (Marcel) and Neil Large (terry). When I first watched the movie I instantly recognised Riz Ahmed who plays the role of Aaron as he stared in the famous movie, Four Lions, which is a popular British Muslim comedy film. So, In my opinion, I think that people will be familiar with him quite soon as he is an interesting character to watch.  Also, i think that the other main characters will be well known as they have all adapted to their roles very well which makes the movie seem more real and fascinating, however Drew has used unknown characters in his movie to add to the realism of the movie and so the audience watch it for the concept and not the famous characters. However, this contradicts the fact that people will have to watch for the narrative as some people may watch it because Plan B directed it.

The genre of the movie is crime fiction drama. This does fit the expectations for this type of film as firstly crimes connotes gangs, violence, sex and drugs which is portrayed in the movie and secondly because it’s all based around drama. In addition, the mood created in the film is dull and depressing as the audience are looking at people being killed over a small issue and women being forced to have sex with men who they do not know. Also, the characters are being presented in derelict and run down homes which makes us feel sorry for them as they don’t really have a life; they have to go through this everyday.

The parallel music used in the background which was sang by Plan B (also the director), reflect and correspond to the scene being played. It allowed the audience to understand what was happening in the scene as well as their past life and how they got into the situation. This made the audience engage into the film more as we realise how harsh and cruel their life is, which makes us feel sorry for them. In addition, the soundtrack created a tense and upsetting atmosphere as it makes us eager to know what happens at the end of the narrative, do they survive? Or do they die?

Ill Manors is aimed at the younger generation of the ages between of 18-30. This is due to the fact that firstly, the older generation would not be doing some of the things shown in the film, secondly the characters used are between these ages and finally, the target audience can relate to this as they may be a member of a gang or they’re life maybe ruined. Also, they may have seen the things presented in the film which can be quite traumatic and so seeing watching the film may make them feel a bit better as they aren’t the only ones who have experienced something dramatic like they have and so the film could help them solve their problem or just make them feel mentally and emotionally better.