The Riot Club Review

The group is based on Oxford University’s elitist Bullingdon Club, whose members included David Cameron and Boris Johnson

Director:  Lone Scherfig

Starring: Max Irons, Sam Claflin, Holliday Grainger, Douglas Booth, Jessica Brown Findlay

Running Time: 107 mins

Certificate: 15.

What is the plot?

Two first-year students at Oxford University join the infamous Riot Club, where reputations can be made or destroyed over the course of a single evening.

Review

The film takes a look at posh boys who behave extremely badly whilst at Oxford University. A group of wealthy, young British boys have not joined the university to simply gain a degree, but for the notoriety  of fulfilling idiotic, often alcohol-induced tasks in Lone Scherfig’s powerful and absorbing film.

The small group of affluent young men revel in their life of privilege and join a legendary drinking society, which is based on the real-life Bullingdon Club called the Riot Club, where their levels of debauchery and indulgence are raised to an art form and result in tragic, polluted carnage.

The fictional club in this movie is based on Laura Wade’s critically-acclaimed political play ‘POSH’ and never has a movie tagline fitted so perfectly to describe a film: “Filthy. Rich. Spoiled. Rotten.” This sums up Scherfig’s big screen adaptation, which centres on two Oxford freshers who are not only new to the university, but also to the club, who become seduced and corrupted by its single-minded pursuit of hedonism.

The new boys on campus are Miles (Irons) and Alistair (Claflin), who clash initially but are targeted to join the group for varying reasons – largely due to class, their education and for Miles, his good looks help persuade the others that he should be part of the 10-man posh gang.

They have to go through a series of ­initiation tests before they are ready for their first dinner, which includes drinking a glass of wine to guess its vintage, filled with snot, maggots urine and spit – and so starts the chaos.

The club are banned from most eating establishments in Oxford for their infamous, bad behaviour and decide to organise a fine meal at a village pub and use their private room to fulfil their old-fashioned, supercilious evening of ‘fun’, a gruesome feast of deplorability and a stomach-curdling look at the portrait of privilege.  

During the evening where the boys demand ‘that it’s important we get what we want,’ the spirits flow into the glass and so do the pompous spirits of entitlement and social differentiation by Sam Claflin, who plays Alistair Ryle.  Clafin truly stands out in the film as the burgeoning sociopath who becomes deeply unhinged by his new sense of power and as his level of anger and spite spiral quickly out of control, his boozy posturing results in nasty violence.

Uncomfortable and almost difficult to watch misfortune happens at the landlord’s expense and the police become involved.  The aftermath of their destruction of the pub and their own self-destruction becomes clear, as the members of the club have to decide who will take the fall for Alistair’s ‘them and us’ rant.

Lone Scherfig’s who most recently helmed ONE DAY and was a ‘Best Picture Academy Award nominee for AN EDUCATION has successfully directed a film brimming with sassiness, intrigue and unpleasantness.  She does not shy away from her portrayal of those in the society and what helps to make the film equally enticing is the smart casting, which is full of stimulating and convincing performances by the young actors.  Max Irons son of actor, Jeremy) stands out well alongside Clafin and Douglas Booth is compellingly cool in his delivery.

What’s great about the film?

It is powerfully intriguing and it certainly brings a new meaning to the phrase ‘having a riot.’  The cast are superb and credible in their portrayal of their characters.

What’s wrong with it?

In truth, very little as it was very compelling. Some may argue that is an unfair portrayal of the current British class system, which focuses on setting a further divide in social status in pursuit of exploring elitism.

Verdict

★★★★

The film hits cinemas on Friday 19th October.  Here’s the trailer: 

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