Attack the Block (2011)

Attack the Block (2011)

I never liked high rises. I'm sure some of them are grand places to live in, but the vast majority around here were damp ridden slums to chuck poor people in and forget about them. Judging by the complete lack of amenities around Wyndham Tower, it's much the same for our characters here. (Wyndham Tower, incidentally, is a great in-joke just thrown in there for those who get it...)

This is a film about an alien monster invasion of a high rise block, but primarily it's about opportunity and character growth, and the lack of options for both. At the start we see Moses's gang as a mugger of young women, and as the trouble intensifies, they try to apologise to Jodie Whittaker but they cannot explain the actions. We see the entire plan of Moses live before him, he is destined to become Hi-Hatz, or be murdered by him. And what the film does is reaffirm the individual's ability to change despite what society throws at them. So Moses and his gang grow throughout the film, from being the people they think society expects them to be, to becoming better people. And all it needed was an alien invasion....

OK, maybe that Aesop got a little muddled.

John Boyega was a drama student in London when he was an add for this film online, auditioned, and now he's in Star Wars. That's the dream that the smaller budget British film industry like this can provide. He's mesmerizing as Moses, and all the same because he never accommodates his own performance. The character isn't sympathetic, but is allowed to change his priorities through experience, so that when he goes to sacrifice himself to save his allies and other residents, it's not a sudden face turn but a rejection of his own predestination. He may be flawed and bad, but he certainly doesn't want to be the local drug lord, shooting at everything in sight. [Incidentally, that's the most stereotypey stereotype in the entire film, probably, is Hi-Hatz.] You can't ever assume how folk will grow up, but the ending is clear Moses has a chance to grow and be a better person, that his community will give him that chance.

And we will never know if he took it! We do find out that he was a mere child though, rather than the adult he pretends to be, and so can only hope he succeeds on the path. He still has Spiderman bedsheets FFS, what are we doing to the kids?

But, the film rather refuses to stick to this binary proposal. The little kids we saw on the street are clearly already seduced by the culture Moses and friends perpetuated. Some may escape, but the circle continues.

Anyhow, if that pseudo-analysis doesn't grab you, and the elephant in the room is that the political subtext to the film can really put folk off, well: this is a fantastic thriller. 90 minutes zoom past as monsters attack, and our dwindling survivors slowly make their way up the tower block to Nick Frost's weed room. The action is fast and frenetic, the dialogue amusing, and the cast all grab this huge opportunity (most of them teenagers in their first big roles) with aplomb. Weirdly despite Jodie Whittaker being the only truly solely sympathetic character in the story, Attack the Block winds up with more heart than some more gritty SF with heroic leads.

Oh, and the shocked teen gang member telling Jodie Whittaker she swears too much made me roar with laughter. Also, as someone whose previous reaction to danger is to lock the door and ignore it till help arrives, I can't help but look that Ron and Brewis's plan of locking themselves away in the flat actually works. Here's to the pragmatists of the world, who often don't survive in horror films!

You can enjoy Attack the Block on multiple levels. As a look into modern society. As a Star Wars v Dr Who crossover. Or indeed, as a John Wyndham inspired retelling of Seeds of Doom.

Or as the best British horror film in many a year. Highly recommended.

Also, a tower block faces a disaster due to under-resourced emergency services? Glad to see that wasn't truth in fiction...