We Are Monster

We Are Monster (based on real life events)will stay with you, it provokes sympathy for the victim(s) and outrage and disbelief as to why a young man is murdered within his cell at Feltham Young Offenders Institute when it could and should have been prevented.

What causes the viewer considerable disquiet is the murderer's own story as we learn about his abusive childhood, at the hands of his racist, violent father, and his mother who turned away.

The lead role of the protagonist is played by Leesham Alexander. I hadn't seen any of his work before, his performance was mesmerizing and compelling, drawing you in to the murderer's highly disorganised and damaged view of the world, acutely paranoid and withdrawn he finds himself within Feltham having spent previous time in other YOIs alone but sharing a cell with a young Asian man. The unfolding events are told through the murder's perspective as he struggles and stumbles toward the inevitable, horrific but avoidable end.

The victim, convincingly played by another relative unknown, is a young man with a future who appears to have a rehabilitated himself is due to be released.

This film is unsettling, but rightly so, if you enjoy a film which is thought provoking and challenging this is for you. I hope it does well for the writer, director and cast because the story remains highly relevant following the subsequent inquiry and the lessons not (yet) learned.

Great direction from Antony Petrou and cinematography which captures the starkness of the institutions in which we place young people with little if any support. I suspect it will be uncomfortable viewing for the governor and warders/officers involved (some of whom tried to intervene and do right by their charges), as well as the Home Office and others. There is no getting away from the social and political issues highlighted.

This movie is from murderer's perspective. It shows the Xenophobia and racism with good cinematography. I have personally faced someone like Stewart (a weed smoker & use to think and talk to himself), he threatened me in past. However, it wasn't in prison. Prison's aren't the only place where hatred is spread, there are many other places. I hope one day we become humans and forget our differences. These things happen at workplace, residences, etc. However, not everyone is same. But sometimes those responsible for checking these issues ignore the guidelines and are often not punished or disciplined. I want to thank the production team for at least bringing these issues into light in form of a great movie with entertainment.

This is a very interesting study of a young offender and what led him to brutally kill his cellmate in a racially aggravated murder (inasmuch as something like that can ever really be understood).

This was a fairly high profile case, so there is a kind of melancholic inevitability hanging over the film and quite a few times I found it pretty tough to watch.

I'd definitely recommend this film, especially to anybody interested in true crime and the mindset and life events that might lead someone to commit a horrific act like this.

This is based on the case of Robert Stewart, a racist who, incarcerated in Feltham Young Offenders Institute, murdered his Asian cellmate, Zahid Mubarek. The film seeks to tell some of Stewart's back-story, as well as expose the failings at Feltham itself.

Lead actor, the unusually-named 'Leeshon' Alexander, also wrote the script. And there's the problem: as an actor, he makes a fair writer; as a writer, he makes a fair actor. Most of the film has Stewart imagining he's talking to a slightly more exciting version of himself (also played by Alexander). The constant swearing and racial epithets these conversations consist of become wearing with nothing lighter to enliven the piece; even a shot of the impressively-muscled Alexander in the shower (waist upwards only I'm afraid) has to be accompanied by his 'other self' moaning about how he acquired a tattoo of Bob Marley on his arm. Secondary characters - even the victim himself, Mubarek - are barely more than sketched out; the prison guards are shown as exclusively lazy, racist, or both. As for the acting, Alexander relies too much on wide-eyed stares to convey an unhinged mind. (And, to be honest, he's rather swarthy to be convincing as a white racist - possibly that's why the entire film is shot in a strange, washed-out, unrealistic light.)

The bigwig at the 2014 Edinburgh International Film Festival who introduced the film used film snob language like 'raw' and 'uncompromising'. Perhaps. But my verdict is it's a worthwhile effort, but try harder next time. Doing a socially-conscious campaigning piece is all very well, but you've got to throw the audience a bone of interest every now and again.

Superbly constructed drama based on true events that happened at the Feltham Young Offenders Institute. Perfromances are excellent and the film will stay with you long after it has finished.