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Very disappointing...

The Age of Commercialism

Simply A Masterpiece

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This is a hidden gem of a production directed by Dominic Brunt, who in his 'day job' plays Paddy in missable UK soap opera 'Emmerdale'. He has directed a number of horror films, and this one concerns two brassy market stall girls and what happens when they are blackmailed.To begin with, this runs as a convincingly comedic venture with Bex (Victoria Smurfit) and Dawn (Joanne Mitchell) trying to keep their market stall afloat whilst fending off coarse but pretty hilarious amorous advances of low life customers (including eccentric oddball comedian Charlie Chuck as Nev). They also need to escape the extortion racket carried out by local villain Si (Adam Fogerty). Jeremy (Jonathan Slinger), a smiling charmer enters their lives and appears to have the answer to their problems.Events twist and the reveals are rarely less than disastrous for the two leads. It seems extreme measures are needed.The comedy just manages to stay the right side of reality – Bex and Dawn are necessarily sharp-talkers, living in an area crawling with men who simply want them for one thing. They have become 'master of the put-down', and they are extremely witty. When events become darker, and their families (including Dawn's autistic son and eccentric mother played by Rula Lenska) are threatened, it is impossible not to wish Si and his blackmail racket a bloody, gory destruction. Whether or not that happens, is not for me to say – but there's an animated sequence following the end credits that is not to be missed.Great fun.

Bex (Victoria Smurfit) and Dawn (Joanne Mitchell) operate an organic tea stand inside a mall. They want to get their own place but need a loan. Jeremy (Jonathan Slinger) is a nice loan shark and Si (Adam Fogerty) is his strong arm collector. His victims tend to be women and old people.We see a lot of violence throughout the film, so they can thoroughly build the character of a guy who beats people up....don't make me hurt the puppy. If you have ever watched a film before, you have a general idea where this goes.Guide: F-bomb. No sex. Some nudity. Victoria Smurfit black bra/panties

Spoilers but not plot specific. An odd little film this, starts out a thought piece about money lending and ends up a home invasion movie. It nearly hits it mark and it's nice to see a well produced UK film - but feels like a writing exercise by two writers that have very different ideas about what the film is going to be. Both films would have been decent on their own and to further add to the confused feel there is a claymation gory post credits scene. It would be interesting to hear what the producers of the film have to say about the tone they were going for. I watched this film on UK Netflix, stick it on and have a look for yourself, it will fill a late Saturday night nicely. I wouldn't be concerned about the low score reviews and rants if you know it ends up a home invasion trope you won't end up as angry as those reviewers.

As a Calderdale resident, I went to see this film with some anticipation. However, I was sadly disappointed. It aims to be a thriller, but it is really a thinly disguised zombie horror film with lashings of fake blood and gore. The story is preposterous...a loan shark (aided by strongarm hulk) is terrorising shopkeepers/stallowners in a small town using extreme violence and demanding absurdly high repayments (even on loans that haven't been accepted)..whilst all the victims are too terrified to go to the Police. The violence is graphic yet cartoonish..appalling injuries are sustained, yet the characters appear in the next scene as if barely touched. The two central 'strong' female characters are an absurdly glamorous pair (neither of whom has a local accent).The underlying political message seems to be 'women are strong'..this seems to require that ALL the men in the film are either weak, leering sex pests, 'dickheads' or thuggish psychos. As for its portrayal of autism, this is unbelievably insensitive and stereotyped. Victoria Smurfit and Jonathan Singer turn in very convincing performances, but, some sharp witty dialogue aside, the film is spoiled by its uneven tone, veering from gritty social realism to black comedy and then running through clichéd horror/zombie tropes...a villain who refuses to die, bodies in the boots of cars, blood gushing from skulls (The title The Taking = a nod to The Shining?). Disappointing. Could have been so much better with a more realistic storyline and characters and a slow build-up of suspense.