Shank (18)
Time Out rating:
<strong>Rating: </strong>3/5
Time Out says
Tue Sep 8 2009
Shot and performed by a crew with an average age of 19 – under the tutelage of experienced DIY filmmakers Christian Martin and Robert Shulevitz – ‘Shank’ feels like a student film gone a bit berserk.Structured around a sweet romance between coke-snorting, self-hating hoodie-on-the-run Cal (Wayne Virgo) and flighty French student Olivier (Marc Laurent), the film draws on timely issues of class struggle and criminal violence to build a convincing picture of gay life at street level.
It’s all rather worthy and simplistic, relying on hackneyed depictions of cellphone-wielding happy-slappers and graffitied backstreets. The cast is patchy at best, notably Cal’s stereotypical thug-life cronies, but Virgo grounds the proceedings with a compelling central turn.
Martin and Shulevitz’s script is nicely constructed, with a few well-judged – if overcooked – last act revelations. Overall, ‘Shank’ has a lot more to say than the average no-budget gangland exposé, resulting in a film which, for all its clichés, feels surprisingly real.
Author: Tom Huddleston
Release details
Rated:
18
UK release:
Fri Sep 11 2009
Duration:
88 mins
Cast and crew
Director:
Cast:
Ashley Bashy Thomas, Adam Deacon, Paul Van Carter, Kedar Williams-Stirling, Alice Payne, Marc Laurent, Wayne Virgo, Michael Socha
Screenwriter:
Robert Shulevitz, Christian Martin








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