I was anticipating 'Illegal Activity' from the moment I viewed its trailer at the premiere for the film 'Zion', which was also written by the thought-provoking and smart Sheila Nortley. As soon as Sebastian Thiel (the director for this short online film) tweeted me saying it was live on YouTube I instantly checked it out and I must say, it was far better than I expected. With an ensemble cast and familiar faces from all over the music & film industry, Illegal Activity sends a strong message and shows powerfully how both youths and adults today can be influenced by what goes on in urban Britain. When the film concluded with a twist I was both surprised and intrigued, as I'd have never expected something as such a little concept to be displayed so cunningly in this hard-hitting gritty drama. It's currently near 50k views online which is a good sign. I personally think this is pretty low so hopefully people will gather the time to watch this creative piece and comment on how good it is! From what I've read all over social network sites and from friends it has received mostly positive reviews. For me this film is a big thing because not many people nowadays focus on business that takes place in council estates etc. as they shy away from it and carry on stereotyping certain individuals that may or may not be involved. With Illegal Activity however it is written so you can see that nothing is at all as it seems and the relationships between people are as damaged as the relationships that any ordinary person might have in society today. The film does have it's segments of humour here and there but above all the message is strong and the long list of good actors/actresses portray it well. You can see from related numerous videos online that this brilliant short took a long time to make and from the opinion of a film freak it was all worth it - I'm glad that an IMDb for this was created because I never thought I'd have the chance to review it and now it looks all professional. In conclusion Illegal Activity was great to watch and I hope in the future more and more films like this get released as some people in Britain today need to realise the reality that some people have lived and still live in - Illegal Activity shows this reality and for that I thank everyone that was involved with it.
