The Riot Club

Founded in approximately 1780, the Bullingdon Club were notorious for booking out a restaurant, trashing it beyond recognition and handing the owner a cheque for the damages on the way out. The unofficial club, which still exists today, consists of a select group of male elites at Oxford University and is the inspiration behind the latest cinema release, "The Riot Club".

The Riot Club begins with the group looking to recruit two new starters, as Alistair (Sam Claflin) and Miles (Max Irons) emerge as possible candidates. However, over the course of a single evening, the club's reputation is put on the line.

The film itself is very much an emotional roller-coaster. Initially, there are plenty of laughs to be had, mostly executed through witty one-liners, though it becomes a lot darker with some shocking scenes that make for extremely uncomfortable viewing. It's the latter which highlights the film's superb acting, as the young cast give genuinely convincing performances. Holliday Grainger, who plays Lauren - Miles' love interest, particularly stands out here.

Playwright Laura Wade adapted the film from her own play "Posh", and it clearly shows, as a large portion of the film is based at the table in the restaurant. While it comes as a slight disappointment that The Riot Club doesn't stray too far from its theatrical origins, it does seem to work in the film's favour, adding to the suspense before the highly dramatic climax.

Wade unsubtly incorporates a number of themes in The Riot Club that are reflective of the society we live in, including the inherited privilege and power culture in the country. There's also a lot of political satire, which comes as no surprise considering some of The Bullingdon Club's ex-members include the current British Prime Minister David Cameron, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

Overall, The Riot Club is an excellent play-adaptation that makes for a highly gripping film. There's laughs a plenty, shocks a plenty and a great cast. This is a must-see.

This is a typical gritty Film Four presentation. A look at the seedier side of society groups and making us look at a side of people that we like to believe doesn't exist really but deep down we know they do. Very gritty , very thought provoking watch this knowing that you will be shocked .

A secret Oxford University club where if you have to ask to join you can't be a member who are all from affluent backgrounds and think they are better than anyone beneath their social standing.

We see how the club begins from its origins to modern day with the group needing new recruits . We see the process and induction of the new members and quickly realise that they are raucous to the extreme. They are preparing to book the annual meal and have to leave Oxford and end up in a beautiful family orientated gastro pub.

As the drink flows and the drugs are consumed the behaviour of the group becomes excessive. A pre arranged prostitute refuses to co-operate which infuriates the members further.

A violent assault tests their loyalty to each other and is played out with the involvement of outside parties.

The Riot Club is for posh boys, who all attend Oxford university. There are only ten of them at a time and they have a notorious reputation, and best of all? They are looking for new members. So I suppose the reel question is will this be Dirty Pretty Things or just Filth? The Riot Club is a film that has a feeling of disappointment, not from me, but from itself, it feels like a movie that had more to give us and wanted to but can never quite get into the right gear with it's own inner mechanics, it's a film that comes across as unhappy with it's own final piece.

The film has a lot of things going for it despite this, it has an INCREDIBLE cast of young men, the whole premise is pitched just right and when it needs to the tension is palpitatable, So why isn't it a better movie? I think we need to take a second look at this to get to the bottom of it properly.

The Riot Club begins as it means to go on, within the first 5 minuets we are shown hard drug use, strong sex scenes, violence and bad language, it never tries to hide or conceal what it is, but then I suppose this is where the problem starts because a movie like The Riot Club (much like A Clockwork Orange really), tries to live in two camps at once, those being the one of class commentary and the other of exploitation cinema. Nobody is going to defend The Riot Club for not being an exploitation film.

I think the thing that The Riot Club lacks most noticeably when compared to both the trailer and the general air of the film is ferocity. When I sat down to watch The Riot Club I expected darkness and debauchery, and what I ended up getting was something mildly unsettling, sure there are flurries of vindictiveness in the film, but they are in the trailer. I wanted to see a film that would justify the tenseness that I felt during some of the periods of the movie, but instead what I came out with was a feeling of confusion to what the hell happened to it all.

The Riot Club works perfectly to a pint, and then during the third act totally loses its way and decides it's run out of time anyway, so brings everything to a screeching halt almost mid flow. That is a crime I can't forgive, to deny me a justified ending to a film I was largely enjoying is wrong.

I feel it goes without saying that film has a superior showing of young up and comers, but what I feel should be said is that aside from the main male dominated teens, there is a surprising mix of other actors and actresses too, this is always a welcomed surprise.

At times The Riot Club is funny, at times it's uncomfortable but it never reaches the depths it desires or needed to for me. The talents on display are strong and that's what lifts it above the mundane.

It's hard to distinguish what's fact and what's fiction in The Riot Club. On one side secret societies will always have their debauchery and initiations, so a level of trouble-making's to be expected. On the other, TRC exaggerates the misbehavior of a notorious Oxford University group. It's a not so fine line between the two. One single dinner event escalates out of control, subjecting the divide between the rich and the working class. The Riot Club's an infuriating watch, with the majority of the club's members basking in their 'importance', looking down on those they believe to be beneath them. The performances are solid, especially from the club's newest members (Sam Claflin and Max Irons), but two thirds of this film is spent focusing on their petty squabbles than relatable facets.

Before watching the movie, I would suggest to read a little bit about the Bullingdon Club, which this movie is based on. It's always better to watch a movie with a little bit of context.

That said, the writer, Laura Wade, explores some very complex issues regarding wealth and peer pressure. While these themes have been depicted in movies over and over again, she does not imply that the entire upper class is a bunch of arrogant pricks, who think they can buy their way out of everything. Clearly, they can, you can't really fault them for that, but the Riot Club is not inherently an evil society. They are rich, they drink, and they sometimes lose control, as we all do. The difference is that there are no consequences for them, so they can keep on doing it. I liked how peer pressure was depicted in this film and how the guilt and responsibility of some of the members was shown. It really made me consider how we act in situations we have very little control over and how responsible should we feel in these kinds of situations.

My only complaint about the movie would be the main character (Miles Richards) being a flawless Mary Sue - rich, handsome, witty, intelligent, kind and well meaning, as well as some of the other positive characters being presented as these morally superior beings. That felt very strange for a movie, the main idea of which is that not everything is as black and white as it seems, and we all just try to justify our own actions while doing what we feel (not think) is best.