Strong performances with an authentic variety of characters and decent although fairly simple storyline, it is a film about young professional criminals. They are not masterminds (they're not particularly bright in any sense) they are one-time delinquent youth now graduated to 20-somethings. Kicking-off with a high energy jewel-store heist when jumpsuit clad motorbike-riders crash through a shopping mall with sledge hammers, inter-cut with a pair of hoodies spraying aerosol flames at policemen as they are chased from doing graffiti over railway lines, you expect this film is going to be a solid punch in the guts. And I'm pleased to say that it is, at least for the most part. Enter the gritty domains of siblings Marcus and Dee, their girlfriends, partners in crime, and their rivals. Their father had been a bank robber back in the day, and while Dee is only a petty crook cum graffiti artist, Marcus has gone into the family trade with his own gang and brand of armed robbery; 'smashing and grabbing' Gold Rolex watches on motorbikes. The film is a back and forth between Dee's life, as he goes from being a delinquent graffiti artist to a ghetto poster-boy of the wealthy urban art dealers, and Marcus' life as he and his gang rob every jewellers and occasional drug-dealer until they have enough swag to do what all armed-robbers do; move into the drugs business. The film is a nose-dive into the world of young gangsters and one which rings more true than the usual fare of stereo-type hard-nuts and violence for the sake of it (in fact compared with most gang films they seem like choir boys until they've got a shotgun or axe in hand). At times it slips into melodrama when Dee and his American girlfriend (Rachel from "Suits") ponder over careers and the meaning of art, but it is held up by the manic drive of Marcus' gangster life, his criminal ascension, and the relationship between the two brothers. A prolonged gun fight outside a busy city nightspot is staged with a brilliance rarely seen in British films and is a chilling reminder of the violence of young gangsters in London, likewise an extended, very violent aggravated robbery scene carried out by the rival gang which is the film's darkest moment, makes Anti-Social one of the more poignant British dramas of 2015.
Review of Anti-Social
