The Dirties review

Student filmmaking turns dangerous...

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Imagine Gus Van Sant’s Elephant laced with meta-movie mischief and the result might resemble Canadian first-timer Matt Johnson’s promising but patchy provocation. Johnson and Owen Williams play brash/sweet movie geeks whose student film project about bullying pivots on Tarantino-ish gun fantasies.

When Matt finds real guns, the mock-doc set-up turns murkier and messier. In-jokes, debating points and audience-implicating games pile up without adding up. As Johnson enters Columbine-style turf, a clearer slant on our modern mindset is required than the one he offers.

Freelance writer

Kevin Harley is a freelance journalist with bylines at Total Film, Radio Times, The List, and others, specializing in film and music coverage. He can most commonly be found writing movie reviews and previews at 12DOVE.