Films > Film Reviews

The Riot Club

29/08/14

Clubs have always proved popular in movies. Whether it's people bonded together by a shared predicament like the Breakfast Club, born of a mutual need like Dallas Buyers Club or a common purpose like in Fight Club (we probably shouldn't talk too much about that last one), much like in real life it seems, people love the group dynamic.

This month then, those people should be chuffed to see the Riot Club. Now don't get confused by the title, this is not a film about a group of poor people breaking into Iceland and nicking all the prawn rings. Just the opposite in fact. This is Posh. No, really - that's the name of the play that this movie is based on.

 Set at Oxford University, the movie is about ten up-and-coming leaders of men who belong to a sort of toffs’ dining club. These boys are seriously minted, and as you would expect, that means they treat normal people like shit. Their bullying and twatishness inevitably get out of hand on their termly dinner and as the evening descends into debauchery, it all gets satisfyingly out of hand and into deep trouble.

 Local boy Sam Claflin does a great job playing the best-of-a-cad-bunch Alistair, but as the film goes on the general assertion that all rich people must be the nastiest of bastards gets a bit overcooked. Maybe posh people have feelings too, perhaps we should set up a helpline for financial minority awareness? Then again, maybe they are all just prize arseholes, in which case class warriors may be slightly disappointed with the ending.

 So will this film be a delicious, rich feast or just a load of posh wank? See it on the 19th and decide for yourself.