The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureCinemaMovie reviews

Filth

Filth | Movie review
22 September 2013
Tom Yates
Avatar
Tom Yates
22 September 2013

After the last two disappointing film adaptations of Irvine Welsh novels, The Acid House (1998) and Ecstasy (2011), there is much anticipation to see if Filth will make the impact Trainspotting achieved in 1996. Filth might not quite reach those lofty heights, but fortunately it’s still a riot of a film that lives up to the book’s reputation, and so naturally it will undoubtedly entertain and appall in equal measure.

Set in the dank world of Edinburgh’s “finest”, the story follows Detective Sergeant Bruce Robertson (James McAvoy) as he attempts to secure a promotion – largely to impress his wife – whilst dealing with the small matter of investigating a local murder.

As those who are acquainted with the novel will attest, the title isn’t without meaning, as Bruce isn’t your typical copper. Not only is he a scotch-swigging, cocaine-consuming, chain-smoking mess of a man, our protagonist is a crazed junkie bigot, not above witness intimidation, soliciting fellatio from a minor and undercutting his colleagues via adultery, slander or sexual humiliation.

McAvoy is nothing short of superb: a dead-eyed menace one moment, a teary-eyed physical wreck the next. He is also surrounded by a wealth of talent, all of whom join him in marvelously playing against type: Eddie Marsan as the sad-sack accountant Bladesey, Jamie Bell as Bruce’s baby-faced sidekick, and Jim Broadbent as Dr. Rossi, who largely appears in distorted form and terrorizes Bruce’s drug-fuelled hallucinations.

Writer/director Jon S. Baird has wisely opted to embrace the vices of the book and throws it all onscreen with brazen glee. From the violent start to the truly twisted climax, his adaptation is full of directorial swagger and reckless abandon that makes Filth – for those who can stomach it – a refreshingly adult wild ride.

Tom Yates

Filth is released nationwide on 27th September 2013.

Watch the trailer for Filth here:

Related Itemsreview

More in Movie reviews

The Queen of Black Magic

★★★★★
Musanna Ahmed
Read More

The Filmmaker’s House

★★★★★
Ella Satin
Read More

Imperial Blue

★★★★★
Guy Lambert
Read More

MLK/FBI

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

Sing Me a Song

★★★★★
Abbie Grundy
Read More

A Night of Horror: Nightmare Radio

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

Wonder Woman 1984

★★★★★
Jake Cudsi
Read More

Come Away

★★★★★
Sylvia Unerman
Read More

Murder Me, Monster

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Arlo Parks – Collapsed in Sunbeams
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Green stars, two female chefs at the top and a controversially quick award: This is 2021 UK Michelin Guide during the pandemic
    Food & Drinks
  • The Capote Tapes
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • The Dig
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Swimming Home: An immersive online experience
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Win a DVD bundle of House of Sand and Fog, Away From Her and Young Adam
    Competitions
  • Crobar: Music When the Lights Go Out
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Six books perfect for beating the winter blues
    Fashion & Lifestyle
  • Green stars, two female chefs at the top and a controversially quick award: This is 2021 UK Michelin Guide during the pandemic
    Food & Drinks
  • Assassins: Exclusive new clip
    Cinema
  • Green stars, two female chefs at the top and a controversially quick award: This is 2021 UK Michelin Guide during the pandemic
    Food & Drinks
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Uncategorised
  • Arlo Parks – Collapsed in Sunbeams
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • We Still Fax at ANTS Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Visage at The Garage | Live review
Mass Observation: This Is Your Photo at the Photographers’ Gallery | Exhibition review