Hyena

Really, when it comes down to it, I'm between a 6 and a 7 for this. It's fairly enjoyable, it just doesn't really do anything out of the ordinary until its ending. And if the mainstream likes this, they will absolutely hate the ending and everything it stands for. I don't say that lightly, they will definitely hate it and as a result hate the overall film. I do think the filmmakers should be given props for it, certainly did what they wanted and would rather make a great thematic point than try to just please audiences, and in that respect, they should be congratulated (and it also helps that it's the ind of ending that I usually love, so I wasn't displeased). The lead is really good and at times you really do wish that he was in a better film.

The plot is that a drug squad in London is seemingly as corrupt as the people they are trying to police. Michael (Peter Ferdinando) is the Detective Sergeant and he is the central figure with a taste for coke (the snorting variety) but essentially a good heart that is obscured by his own greed. 'The book' is for other cops in this film where the line between the law and law breakers is very opaque indeed.

Then their cozy World gets turned upside down when two Albanian low life's turn up and start to make things rather uncomfortable - that is when the line between good and bad goes from blurred to non existent.

Now there are some big names here; Stephen Graham and Neil Maskell both giving convincing performances as ever. The acting is all better than good; the direction and the production are superior too. Some of the scenes are very stylishly done, but the visceral depictions of violence (both on and off screen) makes sure that this does not become a 'classy crime flick'. The ending will leave some a bit annoyed but this is in most places a down to earth and realistically imagined film - hence my rating. Not one for the squeamish but one that shows a good Brit crime film can still be made.

Michael Logan is a police detective in London. His area is drugs and this brings him into contact with European drug syndicates. Logan is happy to turn a blind eye to their dealings, for a cut, or confiscate suppliers' merchandise for their own profit. So far he and his equally-crooked police colleagues have done quite well out of this. Then a deal he was planning with a member of a Turkish drug cartel goes sour and the balance of power swings to an Albanian gang, run by two brothers, the Kabashis. Logan quickly aims to provide the Albanians with the same service he provided the Turks, but they aren't easily lead. Meanwhile, he an his colleagues are being investigated by Internal Affairs. Just to make his life more complicated, he has been seconded to a vice task force, run by a former colleague whom he does not get along with.

Gritty crime-drama that blurs the lines between good and bad, criminal and cop. Very well done in this respect, as you never know who is on whose side, who's looking out for justice and who's just it for the money. Even figuring out who are allies on the criminal side of things is difficult.

All this leads to a wonderfully complex minefield or relationships, loyalties and intentions, and in the middle of it is our main character, Logan.

Just a pity about the ending though. The movie was heading for great climax, and maybe even a 9/10, when the director wrecked it with the final scene. Without giving too much away, it was very unsatisfying...

The film is about a corrupt policeman's investigation into a drug and trafficking ring and while undercover, trying to help one of the many victims. Writer/Director Gerard Johnson previously made Tony (2009) a brilliant pitch black comedy/drama about a suburban serial killer. This one is played pretty much straight and therefore more of a tough watch. It does have very graphic content including moments of genuinely shocking violence (including a brilliant moment towards the beginning depicting the aftermath of a murder which I gasped so loud at) and a very unsettling tone throughout. Johnson's main collaborator Peter Ferdinando plays the central character Michael Logan and he is absolutely fantastic! Performances all round are great and especially Elisa Lasowski's role as Ariana; a terrified individual who keeps her head down in order to not be subjected to the absolute horror of being sold to men again. She is the victim of atrocious abuse as shown in one harrowing sequence and you really want her to escape. Perhaps the downfall of the film is it's overly ambiguous and frustrating ending which in some ways is an indicator of just how gripping the film was up until then. It also feels long but I think that's the case as it is such an exhausting watch at times because of its disturbing subject matter. It is a haunting and relentless portrayal of a seedy underworld accompanied by a hugely atmospheric score by Matt Johnson

Peter Ferdinando plays Michael, a bent cop trying to partially unbend himself. He's just made a deal with some very naughty Albanian gangsters, only to find they're being investigated by his division and he's being stitched up for a murder he didn't commit. He's up against it: His colleagues are a bunch of racist drunks; his arch-nemesis David (Stephen Graham) has just returned as his senior officer; and a clean-cut cop named Taylor (Richard Dormer) is on a mission to clean up the Met. Meanwhile, Michael takes it upon himself to rescue a trafficked woman named Ariana (Elisa Lasowski), while trying to keep his own girl Lisa (MyAnna Buring) from been chopped into little pieces. Laugh-a-minute stuff, then.

The film starts boldly with a heavily stylised raid, followed by a scene in which Michael's crew drink and snort and mouth off about "Pakis". The script is as visceral as the violence; unpretty but pretty authentic. The best of the dialogue – and the most engaging character dynamic – occurs between Michael and David, and the film could have done with more of their tense, skilfully acted showdowns, and slightly fewer scenes of people receiving terrible news by telephone. But that's not to deny the film's grip. There's a genuine sense of danger throughout, and the central theme of cops "crossing a line" is consistently observed throughout – even if Michael's shambolic descent is telegraphed from the start.

"This isn't the 80s," one character remarks, although the sophomore feature of writer-director Gerard Johnson owes more than a little to the crime movie giants of that decade. Its yawning cityscapes and blue hues are like Michael Mann on tour in London, while the street level stuff – all shadowed alleys and vice-filled backrooms – are straight from Abel Ferrara. Indeed, Bad Lieutenant comparisons are particularly noticeable. Its more recent influences include Gaspar Noe's stalking camera-work and Nicolas Winding Refn's doom-scored spasms of ultraviolence. If all that appeals then great, but don't go in expecting to see anything new or particularly refined.

Hyena is a decent gritty Brit-crime thriller, sophisticated in aesthetic if not in content. It's beautifully shot and lit, and the performances are strong – particularly Ferdinando in the lead, the underused Graham, and Kill List's Neil Maskell. Its preoccupations tap into (and exploit) modern fears of police corruption and immigration effectively. Yet all the way up to its ambiguous (read: mildly unsatisfying) ending it feels more like a set of long-established clichés updated to the twenty-teens than a bold new voice in home-grown gangster film.