Review (Ill Manors)

The film Ill Manors is directed by Ben drew, also known as ‘Plan B’; who is known for his career in music. His creativity and excellent directing is highly noticeable on this low budget film as this is also the first ever film he has produced. This is shown as it is a 2 hour long film with a budget of just £100,000; many movies of similar quality require millions of pounds on average per day. However, the low budget could help Plan B achieve a more realistic film as the settings used are not artificial.

                                                 

The film is about a series of young people in East London who are all negatively affected in at a young age which then moulds them into adults who have chosen a bad, criminal, future for themselves. It also shows how different choices that young people make may not always affect them instantly, however further down the line it will.

Plan B had either risked it all, or he had jeopardised his entire film by using majority of the actors as the main characters of the film with no previous acting experience. However, it is safe to say Ill Manors characters and actors had become one with their roles. The 4 main characters are Aaron, who is played by Riz Ahmed, Kirby, who is played by Keef Coggins, Chris, who is played by Lee Allen, and Ed, who is played by Ed Skrein. The protagonist in the film is Aaron, who is different to the typical characters shown in the film and also has a different opinion on what he sees is wrong and right in contrast with his friends. 
All the characters and actors perfectly match each other and the professionalism of the actors who have no experience prior to the filming of Ill Manors, is of high standards; they show this by making the audience believe that the roles that they are playing are actually who they are off camera as well as on.

The films genre is a crime thriller as there is a lot of gang related violence in the film, drug abuse, murder, prostitution, etc. The mood the film creates is gritty and tense, which matches the genre of the film. It is also very shocking and thrilling as it fits my expectations of what the film is about and how it should make the audience feel; and that is uncomfortable to a degree in which they understand and want to watch more.

The soundtrack in the film is produced by the director himself, Plan B. He has created an entire album based on the film itself to help with its promotion which then reached number one. The soundtrack is very catchy as the lyrics tend to stick in your head and after watching the film you may find yourself repeating his lyrics.

The atmosphere was largely helped by the soundtrack as the lyrics described what was happening and the sound went hand in hand the scenes that were in the film. Plan B's music talent cleverly helped Ill Manors soundtrack as he was able to identify what he had wanted as the soundtrack and was able to produce a soundtrack to full effect that would change the entire films intensity in an instant.

The target audience of the film is people who would ignore the type of people committing the behaviour shown in the film and don’t understand the reasons and events they have faced in which has turned them the way they are. Also, Plan B’s fan base would be majority of the target audience as he released an album based on the film. However, the film may appeal to the opposite of their target audience; this is because the language and violent nature of the film would be more appealing to audiences like the characters within the film rather than those who don’t understand. Also, people who can relate to the characters and relate to events that have occurred in their life similar to which have occurred in the film, are more likely to view the film.