Eden Lake (2008)

Eden Lake (2008)
Directed by: James Watkins
Written by: James Watkins
Starring: Jack O'Connell, Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender, Tara Ellis, Thomas Turgoose

You know the type? The ones that hang about in packs outside shops in your town centre, shout obscenities, vandalise things etc and there is nothing you can do about it apart from walk past and try not to aggravate them. Say hello (or in this case ignore) the chav/ the ned, the growing trend in youth of today. Toleration is the power the law abiding citizen in the UK has against the plague that has been allowed to fester in every village, town and city in our country over a number of years. You might decide that more can be done at schools to support/ change the minority that fail to conform and adapt to the normal social standards in the classroom, with neighbours etc, or, (like me) that we should use heavier handed techniques to punish (financially etc) the lack of family core or ethic that uninterested parents are unwilling to develop.
But what if none of these so-called solutions work? The heavy handed technique just drives the wedge further between troubled kids, their families and society, while the softly-softly approach encourages the kids to behave even worse as they know that they will get more attention invested on them and get away with it as ‘they don’t know any better’.
We live in a society where kids are paid to show up at school, where a criminal that has inflicted unspeakable acts on law abiding citizens sits in a cosy cell in conditions better than most retirement homes and where someone is prosecuted trying to defend their property against ‘god know’s who’ that has broken into their property……………………………………………. Welcome to Britain.

Nothing is more intimidating than the uncontrollable threat that is closest to you and that is why Eden Lake (2008) hits home so hard. The violence in this project by director, James Watkins is sickening, heartbreaking and devastating. Every act of violence is followed by dire consequences and nothing is glamorised here. The acting is first rate with likeable performances from Kelly Reilly and Michael Fassbender as the middle class couple and a terrifying turn from Jack O’Connell as sadistic gang leader, Brett. The director even evokes some sympathy and reasoning for the awful actions of Brett when you meet the horrendous brute of a father that has created this monster.
Group Cohesion is explored by the movie’s most agonising scene (of which there are many) where Steve is tortured by the youngsters and the gang leader pressures each of the gang members into inflicting wounds on the man while the female of the pack films it all with her mobile phone.
This is a modern classic but overwhelmingly grim.