Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Jonathon Natsis The debut feature from Ben Drew (better known as rapper Plan B) makes some interesting inroads as a gritty gangster film bent on uncovering the many flaws of David Cameron's broken Britain. But, at an ill-advised two-hour plus runtime and an ill-managed script that very quickly degenerates into a nonsensical shamble of f-bombs, c-bombs, 'innits' and 'bruvvas', Ill Manors looks more like an unassuming eight-year-old with a painted gold chain and counterfeit snapback: he thinks he's tough, but he's the only one.The effort made to blend the six stories surrounding the film's doomed night crawlers – four drug dealers and a pair of prostitutes – is a respectable one. However, lost in the apparent coolness of overlapping one twisted life with another is the expectation that these stories will eventually lead to something – which they don't. There is still some to like about Drew's ambling adventure, though. Ahmed is believable as a conflicted soul trying to help, and each character is introduced via an original rap song sung by the director. But because the basics of filmmaking deflate these otherwise creative moments, one gets the impression the whole project would've worked better as a storytelling album (a la Pink Floyd's The Wall or Kanye's College Dropout), not a feature film.*There's nothing I love more than a bit of feedback, good or bad. So drop me a line on jnatsis@iprimus.com.au and let me know what you thought of my review. If you're looking for a writer for your movie website or other publication, I'd also love to hear from you.*

rastaquere No doubt we have again an aesthetic masterpiece from a generation of filmmakers who excels at stylish use of the moving image language and music. However the story is rather shallow and devoid of meaningful message other than: life is terribly bleak for London's estates dwellers. Time to reach into British literature's greats and bring out the real and powerful story-telling! The good: great acting, innovative photography, entertaining multi-story plot structure. The not so good: lack of impactful story, weak thematic content, needs a story-teller. My advice: see it but don't expect to remember more than the style and atmosphere, the story is weak.

Jackson Starlight This has to be one of the most genuine and brutally honest depictions of thug culture. Never mind that everyone in this film speaks another language(well, they are in fact speaking English, however, their slang and accents are so difficult to understand they might as well be speaking a foreign language)but still, if you can brush past that, be prepared to be amazed by the enormous amount of talent on display here. The film combines multiple story lines together into the one film, and, the whole film is narrated by rap artist, Plan B, who also created the soundtrack for this.The film is very different and innovative, especially in a sub genre like the gangster one, which, in my opinion, has become tired and worn out. The acting is very naturalistic and believable, and the film has a very raw and cheap look about it, which makes the film more powerful. Be aware, though: The C word and F word are used in nearly every scene. It may seem excessive, however, I have met people that speak exactly like the characters in this film. no joke.

MattyGibbs I must admit that 45 minutes in I wanted to switch this off. It was almost unbearably depressing and grim, however I am glad I stuck with it through to the end. I don't know if this depicts normal life in inner city London or not but from news reports I wouldn't imagine it was million miles away. The film paints a bleak picture of people stuck in an almost lose lose situation although of course ultimately you shape your own destiny in life. For a directorial debut this is amazingly assured. I have not a fan of Plan B as it's not really my music taste but he is obviously a hugely talented guy. The film follows various people and their stories throughout the film and these gradually intertwine. The fact that all the stories are interesting as well is also impressive as you rarely get this in movies that mingle multiple stories. The film boasts a largely unknown cast which makes the almost uniformly excellent performances all the more staggering. There is little of the usual cockney wide boy caricature to be seen here. I felt the performances of Riz Ahmed and Anouska Mond were particularly good. The film in many ways reminded me of Trainspotting but with an even darker edge and the film is almost on a par with that one. This is a brutal and tough film to watch but one which really pays off with a great ending. This by word of mouth will end up being a cult classic of that i'm pretty sure.