Anti-Social (2015)
Certified: 15
Duration: 117 minutes
Directed by: Reg Traviss
Starring: Greg Sulkin, Meghan Markle, Josh Myers, Christian Berkel, Richie Campbell, James Devlin, Andrew Shim, Sophie Colquhoun, Caroline Ford, Skepta
KRS Releasing Ltd
Anti-Social marks Reg Traviss’s foray into modern Brit crime movies as he combines the realism of the London streets with the cool and swagger of the genre that has made it such a hit with the male pub crowd.
The director manages to make use of his limited budget to deliver a lean and muscular movie, while at the same time bringing together most of the clichés of the heist genre. He gives these ingredients a British glazing and a modern look that will appeal to a younger crowd.
Gregg Sulkin is Dee, a street artist who is continuously being a thorn in the establishment’s side with the street art he places on London’s property. His artwork has gained him recognition and respect, and has quite a following, including another youth called Jason (Andrew Shim) with whom he is best mates.
Dee, however, is not living the high life. He lives in a government city block with his mother and under the influence of big brother Marcus (Josh Myers). He also has a model girlfriend called Kirstin (Meghan Markle).
Marcus is a different sort of criminal. He leads a gang of motorbike riders who go around town carrying armed robberies. On one hand, Dee carries out his public art to instil a sense of anarchy, uprising and defiance to society’s rules, while Marcus is simply a result of the gang mentality that is the norm in city council estates.
Dee has a life ahead of him as he is being touted as the next best thing, while Marcus simply wants to exploit his as much as possible.
When things start going wrong for Marcus, it will be up to Dee to give a helping hand, but he must be careful not to get sucked into the mess.
Sulkin plays Dee realistically, yet he also looks as if he were a pin-up boy band hero. He displays qualities that are sometimes missing in other genre films and brings a characterisation to Dee that is very wholesome. In his relationship with his brother and in the way he reacts to those around him, one realises that Dee can represent many other characters that populate the London area. He seems to be very much like a working class version of the celebrated Banksy.
He is backed by a director and plot that have taken care to give the characters enough layers and a sense of relationship to make their interactions something more than just a collection of shootouts.
Traviss also manages to capture a fraction of what makes London tick, the sense of diversity, its big city attitude and its sense of turmoil, as being the place where things are happening or bound to happen.
Coupled with sensible and well-staged action sequences, Anti-Social brings a different taste to the Brit crime-lad movie. He captures the multitudes of sub-cultures all vying for attention in the cosmopolitan milieu that is London.