Kill List
KILL LIST
OPTIMUM RELEASING
RELEASED 2 September 2011
Director Ben Wheatley (who also co-wrote with wife Amy Jump), much like fellow British talent Gareth Edwards did in 2010 with ‘Monsters’, has made a truly head-turning film that should be his calling card to bigger budgets and bigger opportunities.
Jay (Neil Maskell) and Gal (Michael Smiley) are ex-army and appear to have been making a living since as hitmen. A job eight months ago went wrong, and Jay hasn’t wanted to sign up for anything since. But the money’s run out (40 grand in eight months sounds a bit careless to me), and Jay’s wife Shel (MyAnna Buring) is threatening to sell his prized outdoor hot-tub (‘it’s for me back’) unless he takes up Gal’s offer of a job. They meet their mysterious employer in a hotel, and after sealing the contract with blood, set off for the first of three ‘hits’. The screen goes black with only the words ‘The Priest’ emblazoned upon it.
‘Kill List’ is unpredictable, horrific, stomach-churning, and brilliantly written. I’ve deliberately not gone into much detail regarding the plot as I had no idea what was coming, so I’m not going to ruin it for you. Right from the beginning though, as Jay and Shel argue, the screeching soundtrack and floating cinematography do a fantastic job of unsettling you, and indicate there’s something in the woodshed. And there is a moment during the dinner party they host for Gal and his new girlfriend Fiona (Emma Fryer) that puts you in no doubt that something nasty is on the way.
I would argue that the main relationship between Jay and Gal is one of the great onscreen duos in modern cinema, on a par with Jules and Vincent in ‘Pulp Fiction’ or ‘Withnail and I’. They argue, they fight, they joke around, and they trust each other implicitly. They clearly love each other in a purely platonic, brotherly way. We spend the entire movie in their company, and they take us on a journey like no other.
The dialogue in ‘Kill List’ sounds totally authentic, and not disimilar to what you’d hear in a Ken Loach kitchen-sink drama. Apparently, the cast did improv much of their lines, so all credit to them for coming up with such telling and often hilariously black comedy. Even when the violence gets unbearably brutal (and graphic), there’s always a black laugh around the corner. If you have a weak stomach for violence, do be aware that this film contains ‘various parts of the human body getting hammered’!
Not only is ‘Kill List’ brilliant in every regard, it also invites plenty of post-movie discussion as to it’s many intriguing plot points. ‘Kill List’ should go straight to the top of your must-see list.
FIVE OUT OF FIVE
