Trespass Against Us review: The fields of Gloucestershire are the unexpected location for this gritty crime movie starring Brendan Gleeson and Michael Fassbender at odds as father and son.
Trespass Against Us review, Paul Heath, March 2017.
Michael Fassbender leads the cast of this impressive directorial debut from music video, television and documentary helmer Adam Smith, and screenwriter Alastair Siddons. After debuting under the special presentations category at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, the picture finally arrives on UK soil courtesy of Lionsgate.
The film revolves around a travelling community in rural Gloucestershire. The clan is headed up by patriarch Colby Cutler (Brendan Gleeson), a notorious local gangster intent on involving his family in his criminal activities. His son Chad, gloriously played by Michael Fassbender with full West Country-garb, is looking for a way out for him and his family, but Colby has other plans for him and plots an elaborate heist on a country estate for Chad to head up. When the robbery is complete, it is revealed that the home belonged to none other than the Lord-Lieutenant of Gloucestershire, and because of his high-profile, the police descend on the travelling tribe to attempt to pin them to the crime.
Trespass Against Us has a lot in common with another film screened on the festival circuit last year, America Honey – not in terms of plot or style, but because of the ensemble of extremely unlikable characters doing things that you won’t necessarily agree with. That said, you have an extremely good time all of the way through it.
This is filmmaking in its rawest form, Smith skillfully pacing the film to perfection, while at the same time offering some truly intense set-pieces, a stand-out being the exceptional chase scenes through the fields of Gloucestershire half-way in. Adding in the thumping, intoxicating beats from the Chemical Brothers, and you have a formula for an invigorating, highly-charged journey with characters that are extremely well-written and developed.
Smith makes an impressive, involving feature debut, but it is the two breathtaking performances from both Michael Fassbender and Brendan Gleeson which truly ignite the screen and keep you engrossed all of the way through its tight 90-minute duration. Un unexpected highlight of the year so far. Truly unmissable.
Trespass Against Us review by Paul Heath, March 2017.
Trespass Against Us is released in UK cinemas on 3rd March 2017.
