Looted

Stars: Charley Palmer Rothwell, Thomas Turgoose, Tom Fisher, Morgane Polanski, Anders Hayward

Director: Rene van Pannevis

Here's yet another disenfranchised youth longing to escape the confines of life in a bleak-looking coastal town in the north of England. It's a familiar theme in UK films of the late 2010s, and the content of this one is hardly likely to cheer you up during lockdown, even though you may appreciate some decent acting.

Rob (Palmer Rothwell) divides his time between carjacking, burglary and thieving, and being sole carer to his dying father (Fisher), who has contracted lung cancer through inhaling asbestos dust and is bedbound and incontinent (wouldn't the NHS have allocated carers under these circumstances?).

Obviously, neither situation here is going to end well, but the film barely has enough content in its story to run for an hour, let alone 50 per cent longer. As a result it's very slow and little of import (or impact) happens, even though Rob is platonically befriended by Kasia (Polanski, daughter of Roman), the girlfriend of Rob's short-fused partner-in-crime Leo (Turgoose); she also becomes attached to his dying dad.

Turgoose and Fisher in particular give excellent performances in this harrowing, but meandering movie that will test the endurance of all but a few. On all major digital platforms.

David Quinlan

UK 2019. UK Distributor: Bulldog Films. Colour (uncredited).
91 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 1, Swearing 2.

Review date: 06 Nov 2020