Ill Manors: film review

''Ill Manors'', which was released in 2012, is a gritty urban crime drama, directed by Ben Drew (who is better known for his stage name, Plan B), that revolves around the lives of a group of young adults, in East London. Plan B is known for his valuable contribution to London's underground rap scene and has made many songs about the lives of ''troubled individuals'' which he recites in his official soundtrack album for the film. His success from the album – which peaked at number 1 on the charts-, could arguably be due to his exceptional ability to deliver such a captivating and gruesome film.

Its main stars, Riz Ahmed (who plays Aaron) and Ed Skrein (Ed), deliver outstanding performances, to say the least, as they are able to manipulate their conflicted personalities, in a way that reinforces the idea that not all youths that are reckless and unforgiving. The two characters were brought up in care homes and are involved in the local drug dealing business together. Throughout most of the film, Ed is seen as a strict, aggressive figure that is willing to go to extremes measures to earn his money- this includes various events such as forcing a drug addicted woman, ‘Michelle’’ (played by Anouska Mond) to work as a prostitute and selling a baby. Similarly, the troubled, unapologetic Aaron, gets wrapped up in the ‘’spirals of violence’’ that arise, and manages to deal with them through various unlawful acts. However, although these traits are typical to that of a disturbed individual, the characters surprise us towards the end of the film, and allow us to understand that through various experiences they can sympathize with those that have also had a troubled life. It just goes to show that Ill Manors is able to capture the conflicting moods of members of the ‘’alienated sector ‘’of society, and spark debates on how an individual can succumb to such extreme circumstances.

Many audiences would say the film's violence is detestable; however Ben Drew manages to capture the ''extreme reality'' of these explicit scenes, in a way that allows such audiences to realize that the lives of these troubled young people are affected by their upbringing and views on society. I would say that ''Ill Manors'' (although having a low budget - of only £100,000) deserves to be credited, as it manages to capture the essence of urban British film by exploring ''social realism''. This idea was envisaged throughout the production, especially when it came to casting and storytelling. Ben Drew claims that some of the events in the film were based on real life stories that had either happened to him or people that he knew. Furthermore, the roles of the younger characters in the film such as ‘’Jake’’ played by Ryan de la Cruz, were casted by Plan B, from schools. By doing this, Drew has managed to achieve the purpose of his film, which is to be a representative of the faction of youths that have come from rough upbringings and allow them to ‘’tell their story’’ and explore reasons why they act that way. It is right to say that the title ‘’Ill Manors’’ is the perfect title as it plays with the words ''manor''- which means landed estate or territorial unit, and the also ''manners''- a way in which you behave.