Ill Manors review. (Halsey)

Ill Manors is a British drama and thriller which was directed by the songwriter Ben Drew (who is also known as Plan B) and was funded by the BBC. The movie is based on drugs, violence and sex which was inspired by what Plan B witnesses on a daily basis on the streets of London in order to make a living.

Ben Drew had created the movie in a very intelligent and abstract way. One thing he does which is intriguing is that he uses his music at a relevant time of the movie as a narration of the situation. This engages the audience as it isn’t a usual way of narrating a story; you usually have a voice over of someone and their opinion. It is also a clever way of engaging the audience as it creates suspense for the audience as it is seen as a whole perspective and not just from one person’s view which is usually considered as being bias. This would create more of an audience for his music as those who are interested in the film would see it as if he is making a movie which suits their taste he must be making music which suits them and so he will create a bigger fan base for himself from this.

In my opinion, the movie was created for entertainment purposes but also to make the audience more aware of their surroundings. The first thing that was shown on the trailer was: “We are all products of our environment. Some environments are just harder to survive in.” The personal pronoun “we” creates a unity and makes the audience more engaged as they feel more involved in the film. Also, to have this shown as soon as the trailer starts gets the audience wondering what Ben Drew is talking about. Throughout the trailer the audience would then get a better understanding of what is meant. Furthermore, during the trailer it is shown “A film for our times” which hints to the audience that the film was made for the generation that we as the audience are living in and situations that are faced. 

There are no signs of a protagonist throughout the trailer which suggests to the audience that the actors are all going through the same thing (trying to get money to make a living). This also shows that there is no level of importance. Usually, in trailers the audience gets to identify with the protagonist so they can also get a better understanding of the plot but during this trailer the idea is subverted. This makes the audience more engaged as they would want to watch the film to find out if there is a protagonist or not and how they’re portrayed throughout the film.

The target audience for this film would be teenagers, majority of them being males especially as there is a lot of violence involved, and females wouldn’t find it enjoyable. The age range would be 18-25 year olds as they would be able to identify with the characters as the characters are also young. The audience would also be interpreted as those who have been through a tough life, perhaps growing up in an estate too. The target audience would be considered as aspirers as they would be interested in materialistic things. During the trailer, the audience can identify the fashionable clothing of the characters and this is a seen as a priority to teenagers. Aspirers are also interested in the latest trends and a lot of money so they can become popular. This is interpreted as if you have loads of fashionable garments and a lot of money, people automatically assume that you are a cool kid.

Although the plot of the film is quite disturbing, it would be considered as a real eye opener as you don’t see much of the activities involved in the movie on the news and so people aren’t really aware of it. As Plan B had been inspired by what he had seen growing up reinforces the idea that people do sell their body for materialistic things, they will do anything in their power to make a living. You don’t really hear on the news of a male physically abusing a female and so when you see it in the movie you identify with it more as you realise how society see females. Especially due to the fact that Ed had thought Michelle stole his phone, he had no second thoughts of his plan to make her sell herself in order to make the money back for his phone. It is seen as cruel and wicked especially as it was proved Michelle didn’t steal the phone, he didn’t consider giving her the money she earned. The boy who was seen as being in his sense was Aaron who does everything in his will to help Michelle and so he ‘borrows’ the money Ed took from Michelle’s prostitution. This makes the audience realise that although men are expected to be dominant verbally, they tend to be dominant physically too.