It’s grim to think that trailers play such an important part in the promotion of a film. It is commonplace now for bigger films to have multiple trailers, each targeting a specific market. What you’re being sold is at best a mistruth, at worst a downright lie. Most recently, the two trailers for Guardians of the Galaxy would have you thinking they were for two completely different films, were it not for the talking raccoon. The latest film to fall foul of this idiocy is the excellent The Riot Club, the trailer for which a) gives away 90% of the film and b) makes it look, well, rather shit.
Danish director Lone Scherfig does a great job with Laura Wade’s incredibly sharp script, which she adapted from her own play, Posh. It is an entertaining and damning exploration of young, upper class Oxford Students and their infamous Riot Club. Allegedly modeled on Oxford’s Bullingdon Club, which boasts David Cameron, Boris Johnson and George Osborne amongst its former members, the fictional Riot Club claims an exclusive membership of under a dozen young men, whose main agenda is living excessively. Through outrageous banquets, drinking, debauchery and vandalism, they strive to outdo one another, trying to become ‘legends’ in the process.
It essentially serves as a cautionary tale of the downsides of both privilege and entitlement, whilst at points descends into an all-out caricature of class warfare. Two first year students, Alistair (Sam Claflin), whose brother was a former ‘legend’ of the club and Miles (Max Irons), an equally wealthy but more socially aware student, quickly become rivals, both academically and as the two new recruits to the club. After starting on fairly equal footing, Miles drifts into more likeable territory after commencing a relationship with the far more working class Lauren (Holliday Grainger). Alistair, however quickly descends into more sinister territory, spitting rhetoric through snarled lips about how much he despises the poor, all in an effort to impress the older members of the club, including Harry (Douglas Booth), Hugo (Sam Reid), Toby (Olly Alexander) and Guy (Matthew Beard).
Their antics reach a crescendo during a banquet at a village pub, where the debauchery quickly turns to extreme acts of vandalism and violence, the outcome of which leaves the club at breaking point. Only then does The Riot Club threaten to waste an excellent opening hour at the expense of being overly self-indulgent, verging on cartoonish. Unfortunately, it is mostly these scenes that make up the trailer, particularly heavy-handed moments such as Alistair, clad in his dinner jacket and clutching a bottle of champagne exclaiming, “I’m sick of poor people!” We get it. This is especially true of a conclusion that, in the hands of another director, could well have been less flimsy.
Criticisms have been leveled at the film for showing an overly simplistic, even salacious portrayal of the British upper-class youths. But it is honest, painfully familiar and all too realistic for those who have had experience, either at University or in other walks of life, with exactly the type of young people it is trying to portray. These people do exist, and their assholery is this bad. With a Danish director and female writer, it perhaps proves true the adage that it takes an outsider with fresh eyes to see the truth, providing one of the most insightful glimpses yet put on film into the mindset of young, British men of money.
Most impressive of all is the outstanding cast of young, British talent whose brilliantly charismatic performances alone ensure The Riot Club is essential viewing. There are no weak links as Claflin, Booth, Irons and Reid in particular turn in career best performances. If you haven’t seen the spoiler-ridden, inaccurate trailer, avoid it at all costs before seeing The Riot Club. It is much, much more that just the group of unbearable twats (although they are truly unbearable twats) smashing things up for an hour and a half.
The Riot Club is currently showing at Savoy, Showcase and Cineworld Cinemas in Nottingham.
The Riot Club official site
We have a favour to ask
LeftLion is Nottingham’s meeting point for information about what’s going on in our city, from the established organisations to the grassroots. We want to keep what we do free to all to access, but increasingly we are relying on revenue from our readers to continue. Can you spare a few quid each month to support us?
