Director: The Director of this crime drama film is Ben Drew who is better known as Plan B because of his work for rapping and songwriting although he ventured into the film industry with this brand new film of his. He has also produced a song called 'Ill Manors' alongside the film. He used the concept of telling a story throughout a film through a rap song, the best example is when we were introduced to Chris when he was a child. It's almost like a musical but it won't be seen like that because of it's gritty and grime nature.
Main stars: The main actor is Riz Ahmed who is better known for his acting for films such as 'Nightcrawler', 'Four Lions' and 'The Road to Guantanamo'. He's won various awards for the films he's performed in. Another star in the film is Ed Skerin who is very much known for his performance in Game of Thrones and the widely known British film, The Sweeney. He's worked with Plan B before as they both stared in The Sweeney together. Despite Ed not being as popular has Riz, he arguably has a bigger impact on the film Ill Manors than Riz's character does.
Plot: Ill Manors is twisted in such a clever way to tell stories of different characters and story and it's pulled off very nicely. We follow the different stories and perspectives of different characters on the streets, seeing their survival stories and their search for status, freedom and power. The clever thing is that all these characters are intertwined together and they all link together towards the end, almost like Pulp Fiction. Ill Manors features all sorts of characters: drug dealers, hooligans, strippers, prostitutes, foster kids, criminal gangs and immigrants. It shows how there's an unavoidable rotation of how society in the street works, there's no escaping once you enter.
Characters:
Aaron ( Riz Ahmed)
This is the protagonist of the film and he is linked and acquainted to every single character in the film somehow. He deals drugs but also has a very strong moral compass, the biggest example of this is when his friend Ed was using Michelle as a prostitute to get money and Aaron was against it at all times and wanted to return the money to her, he even asked Ed to borrow the money he got from her and he'll pay him back later. Aaron is the character who sees people properly and wants to help everyone. He is a strong utilitarian which may come from his tough upbringing of no parents which made him this person with strong moral compass.
Ed (Ed Skrein)
This is the supporting/secondary role in this film as he is friends with Aaron and helps him progress through the streets. Ed is also a drug dealer but he is a lot more immoral and has no sense of sympathy for anyone whatsoever, just cares from himself. The same example is the example I used for Aaron which is when he uses Michelle as a prostitute and makes her get money for him to buy a new phone so he can continue drug dealing even after he learns that she didn't steal it. However, he makes a big transition towards the end when he goes through the burning building and smoke to save the crying baby who he wasn't so keen on earlier in the film and sold it to a pub owner.
Kirby (Keith Coggins)
This is the drug lord in the infamous neighbourhood as it is all his 'turf' and sells drugs on it to users. Aaron works and sells drugs for him. He also nurtured and brought up Chris and taught him about the dirty business from a very young age however once Kirby gets put into jail, Chris gets into power and takes over his empire and Kirby is then ordered around by Chris. Kirby is very cunning and manipulative and a very disturbing character as he asks two 15 year olds to come to his house for a modelling opportunity and offers them drinks and drugs, making him very cunning and unforgiving.
Chris (Lee Allen)
This is the young drug lord who was taught by Kirby when he was young, he then becomes dominant and a lot more superior to him as he grows older and Kirby goes away to prison. He is very revengeful and has almost no sense of morality because he murders a 12 year old Jake who accidentally murders Chris's sister, Chanel. Chris can be seen as humorous at times because he takes the mickey of Kirby a lot of times during the film. Chris humiliates Kirby to almost signify that he has fully taken over and Kirby has no sense of power in the streets as he once used to.
Marcel (Nick Sager)
This character is the local teenage drug dealer who meets Jake and takes him under his wing and almost teaches him how to be 'cool' and drug deal. Marcel is an interesting character because although he's portrayed as a strong and superior individual but inside he is the weakest character in the whole film. The best example of this is when Chris aggressively goes to him to ask who killed his sister and throws Jake under the bus and blames it on him and even offers to kill him for Chris however he refuses and Chris kills them both instead.
Michelle (Anouska Mond)
This character is the prostitute which gets used by Ed to get money for him to buy himself a new phone. She is also a strong drug addict but surprisingly has a strong moral compass and that is shown when she tries to help Katya escape the brothel with her baby. She is taken advantage of many times in the film but also tries to help when she can. She is the most vulnerable character in the film as she's the main female and she's the weakest because she always seems to be under the influence.
In my opinion, the casting is very well done and the acting is an excellent job as it portrays a very realistic view of each story and overall the whole story.
Genre: The genre of Ill Manors is clearly and without a doubt an urban drama and crime. It displays the accurate harsh reality of each situation and how each character lives their lives. It's the brutal and honest truth. There is a lot of references to sex, drugs and violence and Ill Manors perfectly shows that in each matter. They are the three main conventions for a successful urban drama and crime film. The unique selling point with Ill Manors is there is stories being told in a multi-strand narrative within the film and it's almost like a musical because beside each montage of what is happening in the film, there's a rap song by Plan B aka Ben Drew who is the director and that's what makes it very unique and different to other urban drama and crime films. The whole film is very dramatic and realistic, that's the best way to explain it.
Soundtrack: The soundtrack of the film feeds in very well to the film and it's very good in telling the story of each character. The two soundtracks used in the trailer also help tell the story in what's going to happen. Every rap song has a story followed with flashback shots which reveals their past. Ben Drew was very clever in using his rap songs to create stories because not only does it draw in the viewers to watch it but also it shows that he is very creative as an individual and has a very open and creative imagination.
Audience: Ill Manors is clearly aimed at youngsters who would be more interested in this film than any other group. 14-27 would be the age targeted because they would more likely be able to relate to it but also older generations would watch it because similar stories and contexts probably happened when they were young and teenagers. As it's a low budget film, it still creates a strong message and it's a very powerful film and shows accurate portrayal of urban life.
Film Review:
Ill Manors is a multi-stranded urban crime drama set in east London, the debut feature film from Ben Drew, otherwise known as singer-songwriter Plan B. The opening of the film is very powerful, chaotic and energetic which represents the sort of society that the streets of London are like. Ill Manors is twisted in such a clever way to tell stories of different characters and story and it's pulled off very nicely. We follow the different stories and perspectives of different characters on the streets, seeing their survival stories and their search for status, freedom and power. The clever thing is that all these characters are intertwined together and they all link together towards the end, almost like Pulp Fiction. Ill Manors features all sorts of characters: drug dealers, hooligans, strippers, prostitutes, foster kids, criminal gangs and immigrants. It shows how there's an unavoidable rotation of how society in the street works, there's no escaping once you enter. IMDB has rated this film a 7.4 out of 10, reinforcing the fact that it is a great film. In addition to this, rotten tomatoes has scored the film 83% and the audience have scored it 74%. The fact that this low budget film, which was filmed on a budget for about £155,000 has received such good reviews supports the successes of the film. It also shows that low budget films can be very successful. The Director of this crime drama film is Ben Drew who is better known as Plan B because of his work for rapping and songwriting although he ventured into the film industry with this brand new film of his. He has also produced a song called 'Ill Manors' alongside the film. He used the concept of telling a story throughout a film through a rap song, the best example is when we were introduced to Chris when he was a child. It's almost like a musical but it won't be seen like that because of it's gritty and grime nature. The genre of Ill Manors is clearly and without a doubt an urban drama and crime. It displays the accurate harsh reality of each situation and how each character lives their lives. It's the brutal and honest truth. There is a lot of references to sex, drugs and violence and Ill Manors perfectly shows that in each matter. They are the three main conventions for a successful urban drama and crime film. Ill Manors is clearly aimed at youngsters who would be more interested in this film than any other group. 14-27 would be the age targeted because they would more likely be able to relate to it but also older generations would watch it because similar stories and contexts probably happened when they were young and teenagers. As it's a low budget film, it still creates a strong message and it's a very powerful film and shows accurate portrayal of urban life.
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