The Dirties

I've had the pleasure to see this movie in a semi-private screening with the crew present. Part of the high rating (by my standards) is the fact that the flick's as self-made as self-made gets, being produced and acted by basically the same guys (which is something I often dig).

The movie throws the viewer directly into its documentary-styled collage of at first glance seemingly random scenes featuring two best friends during their high school time. The first half hour develops a pull that draws you right in. While "Two best friends are filming a comedy about getting revenge on the bullies at their high school. One of them isn't joking." is probably as concise as it gets to describe the plot, it also means that a somewhat experienced audience might feel a bit underwhelmed, since what started off fresh will become rather foreseeable and and clichéd in the second half. I was relieved that the ending's at least consequent, finishing the movie in a satisfying way nonetheless.

I like the concept of the movie and mostly like the execution, and I like being able to say that it's a film worthy of watching with high schoolers, since it provides a lot of stuff to discuss about things that are important to know and realize for each and everyone out there.

Matt and Owen are best friends at the same high school. They are sort of geeky and as such are continually being picked on and bullied by their class mates - who are obviously a bunch of cowards as all bullies are. They are doing a class project in which they have to make a film. This is right up their street as they are both mad movie buffs. So they decide to make a film about how they take revenge on the bullies - as they call them 'the dirties' - and use as many filmic references as possible.

This all seems well and good, only one of them is slightly more serious than the other - cue the mayhem.

Well this is a rather well made indie and you can tell a lot of heart and soul has gone into the production. There are some really good lines and some well observed pieces too especially regarding relationships and movie making. The acting is all surprisingly good too. The only issue may be the way some of the action pans out but that will be a matter of taste for the viewer. All in all they pack an awful lot into the 80 minute run time. I would rate as 7/10 as I always appreciate a good and original indie production.

The Dirties has been garnering rave reviews and collecting awards at multiple film festivals and for good reason. It's a powerful, engaging and important film. Two high school best friends, Matt and Owen, decide to make a movie project for class where they pretend to murder the group of boys who routinely harass them. Matt is played by Matthew Johnson who also wrote and directed the film. It was filmed at a real high school with actual students so the line between reality and fiction is significantly blurred. Matt is an outsider but one that viewers can relate to, with his quips and love for movies. This makes it all the more disturbing when he begins to take the murder plot too seriously and takes action that will change his life, as well as the lives of all those around him, forever. This movie is not just about a school shooting. It's about consequences, it's about friendship, it's about loneliness. It's definitely a must see.

Wow. This was an amazing film. I have a lot to say about it but I will keep my thoughts concise. The topic of school shootings is obviously a sensitive one, given that it happens too often these days, but I think it's an interesting subject. There's obviously a lot to explore in regards to the people who do it, and this film has an interesting take on it.

To start off, it's kind of a different film from other school shooting films like Zero Day or Elephant that have a serious and somber tone throughout. This movies starts off quite funny. I laughed quite a lot. It has kind of a "nerdy high school kids movie" kind of feeling. It also includes lots of references to films, since the main characters are film fans themselves, allowing for captivating scenes such as the final credit sequence that gives nods to other films in a way I won't spoil.

The characters are displayed in a quite realistic way. The humour in the beginning makes you bond with them and kind of like them, so when things start to get serious, you care what happens. They aren't shown in a way that seems stereotypical, they just seem like real guys you would know, and maybe even be friends with. That makes it all the more disturbing. As someone who graduated high school last year (at the time of this review), I can relate to the setting of high school, and while I wasn't bullied, nor did I witness bullying on this level, I can still understand how it would happen. The interactions between characters feel like real high school interactions. There are some pretty good performances here.

The ending may not be everyones cup of tea, but I think it solidifies the theme of friendship throughout the film. The whole buildup at the end made the tension feel unbearable. I won't spoil that, but I could feel my heart beating and I felt actually nervous about what was going to happen, and when a film can do that, I give is massive credit. I highly recommend this film. (Bonus points cause I think it's Canadian)

Director Kevin Smith, who released The Dirties through his self-proclaimed "movie club," has called the film "the most important movie you will see all year" and he isn't wrong. The Dirties is a harrowing look at a subject no one wants to explore and that is the school shooting. Here is a film that takes such a subject and subverts it to the point of being believable and so naturalistic it possesses a rare documentary-style. The fact that it will go largely unseen by the public is a crime.

The film stars Matt Johnson, who also serves as director, co-producer, and co-writer, as Matt along with Owen Williams as Owen, two senior film geeks in high school. They are making a film project about a lawless gang called "the dirties," which is also the name they give to the school bullies who humiliatingly beat them up and harass them whenever they get the chance. When their film project on the gang is gutted by their film teacher for its excessive use of violence and language, Matt suggests they come up with a film where they actually kill the bullies in their school. Like, for real. Owen believes Matt is joking but quietly consents to devising the mad plan for the "fun" of it.

Owen, however, comes to the realization that Matt isn't fooling around. He has resorted to taking pictures of the people that bully them, trace rooms and the bullies' schedules on the blueprints of the school he obtained at the town village, and talking openly about the potential of his carnage with Owen as if he's achieving personal enjoyment from it. Matt makes it clear he doesn't want to go after everyone in the school; just those who caused him and his friend untold misery by mocking them when they were nothing but harmless and obeying.

First-time director Johnson employs the popular film school tactic that will either captivate or alienate you upon its arrival and it's the shaky camera. The camera is obviously hand-held and held very loosely it is. Never does it restrict the environment, as it always seems to capture the right images at the right time. The effect only furthers the already naturalistic acting and dialog in the film. Much of the dialog, like many indies nowadays, was improvised and in a school setting focusing on two kids, one of whom is quietly out of control, this seems like the only method to achieve success through dialog.

It's also worth noting that Johnson's unsteady camera-hand always provides for an unsettling environment. It's hard to make a public school ominous, but with bullies and an unstable character in the forefront, along with directing that reserves as much as it shows, it's not too difficult. The film is so successful at being unsettling thanks to its camera-work that when the inevitable occurs it's almost not as frightening as what we've already indulged in. Then the last line is said that will ring in your head for days to come.

The Dirties works best thematically because it doesn't try to justify its characters, its antagonists, its events, or its cultural importance. It doesn't look to provide answers because there are no clear one. It doesn't look to embellish or sensationalize because it knows this kind of event occurs, unfortunately, very often. It doesn't become politically-partisan, blame mental illness, blame the quality of parenting, or blame news and media. It simply shows the depressing and shocking effects bullying can have on a soul.

A heartbreaking scene comes when Matt and Owen are talking about how they've been bullied for many years but still haven't really learned to cope with it. Matt states that one day, in middle school, he was putting quarters in a vending machine when someone made fun of his dated sweatpants. Matt remarks about how he walked away with fifty-cents credited on the machine, not even putting more money in or walking away with any food or drink. It was the first time he was bullied for being himself, and the pain and torment hasn't ceased since then.

Constantly I was reminded of Gus Van Sant's Elephant, a highly-impressionistic film that based itself off of the tragedy at Columbine High School. The film featured little dialog, pretty empty characters, and scenes that didn't blatantly say their purpose - all of which an intentional tactic on Van Sant's part. The film was harrowing in its simplicity and compelling in its suspense that something was about to happen that was going to affect hundreds of young people differently. The Dirties exercises in a more open fashion, but, thankfully, leaves a lot of questions unanswered. At only eighty-minutes, it had the power and impact on me I don't usually get from films two hours or longer.

NOTE: The Dirties is now available on various video-on-demand outlets and will receive a DVD release later this year.

Starring: Matt Johnson and Owen Williams. Directed by: Matt Johnson.