Director: Rufus Norris 

Cast: Olivia Colman, Tom Hardy, Kate Fleetwood, Anita Dobson, Paul Thornley, Philip Howard, Janet Henfrey

Running Time: 1 hour 31 minute 

Rating: 15

Release Date: 12/06/2015

When journalist Alecky Blythe travelled to Ipswich to interview the residents of the famous London Road, after the hideous murders of five women by neighbour Steve Wright; many thought it would be another typical backstory of such a shocking tragedy. What Blythe documented though was the surprisingly uplifting story of how the haunted residents left on London Road, broke free of their negative press and began to put their broken community back together. Not only did Blythe talk to local residents and police staff, she also ensured she got the opinions of local prostitutes after it was exposed that the women Steve Wright murdered were all selling themselves for sex on London Road. 

Blythe’s findings soon found themselves in the hands of BROKEN director Rufus Norris and soon LONDON ROAD found itself at the National Theatre in April of 2011. Winning best musical at the 2011 Critic’s Circle Choice Awards; Blythe, Norris and song writer Adam Cork soon found themselves considering bringing LONDON ROAD to the big screen. With a few of the original cast joining them, the LONDON ROAD film retold the same extraordinary story of hope in the darkest of places. 

LONDON ROAD is by no means your typical musical, nor is it a traditional story of a serial killer’s terrible reign. Instead of focusing on Steven Wright and the poor women he murdered, its main focus is the ripple effect these crimes had on the street and how one community went from being demonized to being celebrated. At no point is a Steve Wright character shown and this most definitely works in the film’s favour. It puts a dead end to any accusation that the film might possibly be cashing in on a tragedy as it simply tells the very honest story of how the murders effected those left on London Road. 

What’s so clever and wonderfully original about LONDON ROAD is the way in which the cast delivered their lines and the commitment to the role they offered up. Due to the script being written by Blythe in verbatim style, every line spoken or sung had to be repeated exactly as they were spoken in the original interviews; meaning every “um” or “erm”, is also spoken or sung. This creates a bizarre sense of realism that truly captures its audience and leads to some very quirky, very catchy songs. With Adam Cork working on the music, songs such as “Everyone is Very Very Nervous”, “It Could Be Him” and in particular, the utterly haunting “We’ve All Stopped”; aid to the very tense narrative themes.

Rufus Norris does a superb job at creating a visually pleasing yet compelling film, with the colour and shooting style all working as its own seperate narrative; something that helps to push the real story along with ease and flow. The road itself acts as a separate character, an entity that inhabits all secondary characters and as the story develops; as does the road. At the very beginning of the narrative, the road itself and its immediate surroundings begin in low shades of grey and blue; so much so that it could easily be mistaken for black and white. This very much represents the low moral of the road and the crime and decay that burrows in its cracks. As the narrative continues and the residents literally clean up London Road, so does the way in which the road is represented; with bright colours, piercing light and glorious exposure. 

With big names such as Olivia Colman and Tom Hardy making up some of the exceptional cast, it would be easy for the remaining members to find themselves lost; with Norris having every reason to throw focus on such brilliant talents. Despite this, he so skilfully keeps each character on the same level, staying wonderfully honest to the original material; ensuring that each cast member studies and represents exactly who they should be. That being said, Colman is truly marvellous as mother and resident Julie, who remains one of the less sympathetic and straight talking members of the community.

Colman, Norris and Blythe never shy away from the sometimes shocking words from the original interviewee’s, with Julie’s confession that she would “still shake his hand” and thank killer Steven Wright for cleaning up the street. These shocking revelations just add to the already intense feeling of realism and just prove that this musical runs deeper than most.  The likes of Hardy, Paul Thornley, Phillip Howard, Anita Dobson and Jenny Galloway all give tremendous performances, with their commitment to speaking exactly as their real life character did, while still giving great dramatic performances; is wholly impressive.

While it’s very easy to get caught up in the joy behind the reinvention of this down trodden road, it felt so important that the girls whose lives were taken had their defense and moments of sorrow. These moments were so superbly depicted by the likes of Kate Fleetwood, who played Vicky, a surviving local prostitute. Towards the end of the narrative, as the road celebrates with a beautiful London Road in Blood garden competition, Vicky can be seen stalking the familiar streets, witnessing the obviously alienating celebrations. It’s scenes like these that truly stand out within LONDON ROAD and the audience is able to battle their sympathy for the girls lost and those like Vicky, and the often harsh words from the residents that they’ve quickly accepted with fondness and empathy. 

LONDON ROAD feels exceptionally bizarre in all the right ways. It’s horribly macabre yet utterly infectious as the audience finds themselves opening their eyes to a whole seperate side to such an infamous tragedy. With a wonderful score of surprisingly catchy songs and performances so real it’s haunting; LONDON ROAD is an electric mix of theatre meets journalism, transformed into a feature musical that burns deep into the minds of its cautious audience. 

 Verdict

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