For some reason, we seem to love watching posh, spoiled Brits cause chaos on the big screen. It’s the same with Americans wealthy kids, but the main difference is that fancy accent, we can’t seem to get enough of it. This month, IFC is releasing Lone Scherfig’s (An Education) The Riot Club, an adaptation of Laura Wade’s play, titled Posh, a seemingly fun film turned intense drama that managed to be way more gripping than I thought it would.
Set at Oxford University, the film follows two ambitious and very different freshman, Miles (Max Irons) and Alistair (Sam Claflin), looking to make the most of their university experience. Shortly into the start of the school year, the two are recruited to join the infamous Riot Club, a secret society of 10 members that live life to the fullest, caring not about consequences and only about the adventure. It’s a society of wealthy “intellectuals” doing the most reckless and gluttonous things possible. The film follows the induction of these two gents all the way up to the legendary dinner party that’s held each year to welcome the recruits, a dinner party where reputations are made and destroyed and all that’s left in its wake is chaos and vomit.
The Riot Club was a much different film than I was anticipating. I expected a comedic film that focused on college debauchery with a little bit of drama to put some wealthy kids in their place. Instead, what I watched was a film that takes two people with very different sets of morals, who are put in a situation where they must choose between acceptance via social pressure or the path of the righteous and understanding when things have gone too far. It’s a film that starts off somewhat lighthearted and slowly veers onto a path of thrilling intensity. I found myself fixated on the screen even when things started to get a bit obnoxious.
My main issue with the film is that I never understood why Alistair hated Miles so much. He seemed too proper and smart to let a nice gesture of switching rooms be the cause of the hatred yet, ever since that moment, which happens right in the beginning of the film, and upon seeing Miles being so charismatic, Alistair had it out for him. I understand that they’re first year university students, but it just seemed too petty for Alistair’s style, especially after you see how the film progresses and hear the way he speaks.
The one issue I do see some people having is that the film isn’t the most subtle when it comes to expressing its ideas. Laura Wade’s script addresses the topic of class warfare in Britain (though it could be applied elsewhere) and the global idea that money can solve everything, but it gets to a point during the climactic dinner party where she just wants to beat you over the head with those ideas. Alistair makes it a point to express his disdain for the poor and rallies his Riot Club brothers to escalate their behavior to a level that they’d all soon regret. He’s the type of character that’s vengeful and downright mean, but it’s his character that drives the movie and its sociopolitical ideas forward the most. The film also ends with his character on screen, and while I won’t spoil anything, it’ll leave you with both a feeling of respect for the screenwriter and director as well as a terrible taste in your mouth because of how true the ending actually is in life.
The above being said, the commentary on this system of rich vs poor mentality is also what I found fascinating about the film. It was one of the more intriguing aspects, minus the beating of it over our heads, mainly because there aren’t many films that dive into the hatred of it all, just that an attitude does exist. The Purge is an example of this but on a bloody horror level. The other aspect I did enjoy was the acting. I thought Claflin and Irons both did great jobs in their roles, pushing us to view them in one light and then turning their characters’ personalities around to make us see them in another light. This is both a testament to the acting, script and directing, allowing us an opportunity to see characters evolve on screen in, what I believe, is a relatively short amount of time.
Overall, The Riot Club is an interesting look into the mindset of spoiled brats who take everything for granted even when things spiral out of control. It’s a movie whose themes can seem a little exploitative but, to a certain degree, also very true, it just doesn’t find the perfect balance of it all. If you’re like me and enjoy British cinema with a bit of edge, then I would recommend Lone Scherfig’s film because it is entertaining and thought provoking, but it can also be frustrating and a bit over-the-top. The Riot Club isn’t a must-see but it isn’t a film I’d say “no” to screening.
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