ill Manors Film Review

Director
The director of the film 'Ill Manors' is Benjamin Paul Ballance-Drew, also known by his stage name Plan B. Plan B is an English rapper, singer-songwriter, actor and film director from Forest Gate, London. This was his first low budget, art house directed film. Plan B has directed music videos, which established his career. Besides the film being outstanding, Plan B being a well-known rapper already almost helped the film to get on that platform. Plan B also released an album called ill manors.

Main Stars
Some of the main stars include Riz Ahmed as Aaron, Ed Skrein as Ed Keith and Keith Coggins as Kirby. These actors, specifically Riz Ahmed are all known for films that consist of the same genre. For example, Riz Ahmed plays Omar in 'Four Lions', and is also known for his nomination at the British Independent Film Awards for the Best Actor. However, as they all sprout from low budget films, they have not yet been fully established actors in the film industry.  This could be one of the reasons why Plan B wanted to use actors that were not well known, to almost give an element of realism as they are not big Hollywood actors. However, Ed Skrein plays Daario Naharis in ' Game of Thrones', an American series.


Plot 
The plot of the film 'Ill Manors' revolves around several characters and their problems, all being interlinked. The main protagonist is a drug dealer in London, who sees his life quickly spiral out of control. As a result of the drug dealing, he begins to get stalked by a customer desperate to gain some form of drug, and falls into the trap of pressure, violence and crime. As a young boy who grew up with no parents, he realises that there is an ongoing relationship and cycle with children who are abandoned at a young age, and for this reason, he changes his lifestyle for the better. 

Characters
The actors in 'Ill Manors' all play a significant part, as it portrays that life on an estate is not easy and can be cruel and very dangerous. The main actors include Aaron, Ed and Kirby. The acting of Kirby in particular shone through, as he is the older character, with more experience, which ultimately reflected in his acting. A scene that this is conveyed is when he is threatening Marcel and makes him run home naked. The audience get this sense of masculinity within his character, despite how small he is. In addition, when he is let out of prison in the beginning moments of the film, we are introduced to a character of whom we know so little about, yet get the sense that he is already a protagonist in the story. Likewise, the acting of younger character Aaron is substantial as we gain almost a personal relationship with him when he learn about his past and the neglect he faced when younger. These characters represented society's stereotypes of council bred teenagers, who are always associated with crime or danger, which I think Plan B attempted to divert through the utilisation of the stereotypes. 

Genre
'Ill Manors' fits into the crime, drama genre. This is because as well as the dramatic scenes, it also includes sexual and criminal activity, therefore associating it with this genre. Personally,the film fits the genre perfectly as it stood for everything that is mentioned in the genre label. Drama was definitely prominent in the scenes of 'Ill Manors', which was also reflected through the lyrics of the songs, written by Plan B. I expected the film to have more emphasis on the British law enforcement, as we saw the police in the trailer. However Plan B's attempt at binary opposition worked in persuading the audience that there will be things in the film, that weren't physically there. The mood in the majority of the film is intense, deep and unsettling. Significantly, the mood in the final moment of the narrative become increasingly intense as Ed saves the baby, at the consequence of his life. 

Soundtrack
One specific thing I noticed with the soundtrack was that most of the songs, reflected the narrative that was occurring. For instance, when the Russian woman was leaving her baby on the train, the song represented her history with her abusive boyfriend/husband. These were very effective, as not only did they tell a story, but they also allowed the audience to become more engaged with the concept through the music. The use of narrative and music linking in one sequence, was effective as I could understand the problems in the film and in society nowadays. The atmosphere the songs created, in particular the song 'Ill Manors', was very sensitive, as we knew there would always be a segregation between the council bred children and the 'rich boys', as said in the song.

Audience
I think the target audience is mainly for the younger generation aged 15-25 who may be facing these issues in their communities.The film is also aimed at the working class as it is a low budget film yet acts as a powerful film with a strong message of urban life and the rapid downfall of infamously superior individuals. I would definitely recommend this film to others as it is a great film; in terms of cinematography it has been filmed very cleverly and the narrative structure is interesting due to the use of the flashbacks and the editing used. Plan B perhaps aimed it at this kind of audience in order to portray that there is always a way out, through the character of Aaron and perhaps Ed.