Free Fire (2016)

Director: Ben Wheatley
Writers: Amy Jump, Ben Wheatley
DOP: Laurie Rose
Cast: Sharlto Copley, Cillian Murphy, Brie Larson, Armie Hammer, Michael Smiley

Set in Boston in 1978, meeting in an abandoned warehouse for an arms deal turns into a shootout and a game of survival.

The guys who are on the buy side is the IRA (Cillian Murphy, Michael Smiley etc) and the sellers consist of a South African guy (Sharlto Copley), Armie Hammer etc with Brie Larson playing the role of a middle-woman. So the country and accent differences itself quite obviously become source of much of the humor in it. People have compared it to Reservoir Dogs with both having claustrophobic settings where tempers gets frayed but unlike Reservoir Dogs, there is no back-story or flashbacks and the balance between humor and intrigue is heavily loaded in favor of the former. Free Fire was shot in sequence and they have supposedly taken great care in giving full justice to the deterioration of location due to all the firing and being true to the spatial separation between the characters. If you are pedantic enough to notice those things, I guess you will be impressed. Overall I found it to be a very good watch but you kind of loses your interest towards the end which I think was a risk that they knowingly took by not choosing to flesh out any of its characters. It will remind you of Martin McDonagh films but it is more 'Seven Psychopaths' than 'In Bruges' and the settings change to America (film was shot in Brighton mind) obviously brings down the humor quotient. You will be a little disappointed if you come into it with the high expectations of a Ben Wheatley film but it is still very good. Their next project, Freak Shift, looks very interesting.

Ben Wheatley-Amy Jump duo is not so far known for doing out and out comedies and have been very good at making films that are quite different from each other. Kill-List and A Field in England are my favorite films of theirs. Michael Smiley is a constant fixture in their films. Free-Fire is so far their most mainstream of films yet and Martin Scorsese was also on board as an executive producer. It didn't do smashingly well at box office but who cares anyway.

Rating: 3.5/5

High-Rise (2015)

Director: Ben Wheatley
Writers: Amy Jump, J.G. Ballard
DOP: Laurie Rose
Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans, Elisabeth Moss

Life for the residents of a Tower block begins to run out of control. It is set in a luxury tower block during the 1970s and it represents social hierarchy with the higher you live means higher your position is in the social order. The architect of the building, played by Jeremy Irons, resides in the top floor and this social hierarchy was not intended by him as he wanted the tower to be a crucible for change. Tom Hiddleston plays a bachelor doctor who had moved recently into the apartment.

It is an adaptation of a British dystopian novel with the same name from J.G. Ballard. It is very well acted, technically excellent and gorgeous to look at but suffers from the fact that its theme is not quite novel these days. We almost had the same thing, but set in a train instead, in Snowpiercer which worked surprisingly well. Snowpiercer had the veneer of a genre action film. Ben Wheatley's effort is more in-depth with point of views from all sides. But I found it to be a little too straight-forward, quite like Neon Demon which also I saw recently. It might go on to become a cult classic like Terry Gilliam's 'Brazil'.

Ben Wheatley is a very promising director with Kill List being my favourite film of his. A Field in England is also a great and weird watch and I have to revisit it soon. I didn't enjoy Sightseers particularly. High-Rise was his first biggishly produced film even though it is still a small production compared to Hollywood standards. Jeremy Irons is always a great screen presence and come to think of it, the only film I've seen Hiddleston in previously was the excellent 'Only Lovers Left Alive', in which his character was quite the opposite. High-Rise is not recommended for all but certainly for Ben Wheatley fans like me. Others should probably watch Kill List first.

Rating: 3/5

Down Terrace (2009)

Director: Ben Wheatley
Writers:  Ben Wheatley, Robin Hill
Cast:       Robin Hill, Robert Hill, Julia Deakin

The father and son of a crime family in Brighton gets out of jail and look to unmask the informant in their midst.

This Ben Wheatley's film debut and have dark humor running through for which his films are known for. The crime family is shown in a very realistic manner with no pomp unlike many other films and you have situations like a hit-man coming for a job with his three year old son because he couldn't find a sitter. It is really a genre film done differently and shot in just eight days.

Rating: 3.5/5

Kill List (2011)

Director: Ben Wheatley
Writers:  Amy Jump, Ben Wheatley
Cast:      Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring, Harry Simpson, Michael Smiley, Emma Fryer

After a botched up last job a Hitman is having domestic issues with his wife. He finally teams up with his friend and regular colleague to get back into work as they go on a journey in which they take out people in the list.

I watched the film without any prior knowledge about it and having only the title giving a little clue. Things given in the synopsis are kind of spoilers but I guess it is alright as the poster itself gives away more than it should. The film can be divided into three parts- domestic part, buddy road film act and the final weird horror act. Whether you enjoy it or not depends on your tolerance for getting the carpet pulled from underneath you. I loved it and reckon it is a fucking masterpiece, albeit a very disturbing one. It is like a Mike Leigh+Quentin Tarantino+David Lynch film rolled into one.

Rating: 5/5

A Field in England (2013)

Director: Ben Wheatley
Writers:  Amy Jump, Ben Wheatley
Cast:      Michael Smiley, Reece Shearsmith, Julian Barratt, Peter Ferdinando

It is a black and white film set during 17th century English civil war where a group of people escape the war through an overgrown field. One of them influences others into a search for a man he is looking for and a psychedelic trip follows where the captor turns captive.

It is difficult to describe the film. It has been classed as a horror film but I found it to be more of a dark comedy. I was not too impressed by Wheatley's previous film 'Sightseers' but this one was a great watch. It is technically excellent and has a solid script to back it up. Script is by Wheatley's frequent collaborator and partner Amy Jump.

The film was released in several platforms simultaneously. Apart from getting a limited theatrical release, it was broadcast in Channel 4 and Blu Ray DVDs were made available and also as video on demand the same day. This could be the way forward for small budget Avant-Garde independent films. The multi-platform release was very successful.

Rating: 4/5

Sightseers (2012)

Director: Ben Wheatley
Writers:  Amy Jump, Alice Lowe, Steve Oram
Cast:      Alice Lowe,  Eileen Davies

Chris and his girlfriend Tina goes on a caravan trip and lose their temper.

It is supposed to be a pitch black comedy and I didn't find it very funny.

Rating: 2/5