Neds

The illustrious Peter Mullan provides us with NEDS, yet another lesson in raw and visceral world of Scottish cinema. Conor McCarron plays John McGill, a successful pupil entering the festering realm of a Glaswegian high school for the first time. A venomous confrontation with a school bully results in his delinquent older brother initiating a revenge for which John is associatively credited by the local gang of cretins. His newfound fame creates an air of untouchability and acceptance that quash his academic-related pariahdom. His involvement with deadhead gang mentality perpetuates a cycle of violence that results in crimes against the false honour of membership and requires retribution in kind. A downward spiral is initiated to say the least.

NEDS prods at low socio-economic hoodlumism to extract truth as one would poke a festering wound with a stick. The vicious brutality of cockroach-level Scotland depicts a commonality of the struggles of any number of youths. Rarely does a film follow such a descent so seamlessly and explore the action/consequence relationship with such an unflinching eye. Beautifully paced and breathtakingly exciting in parts, Mullan's brilliance will have you living and breathing the life and times of John McGill. It will take some time to recover.

Screening at Joondalup Pines , Perth Tuesday 28 February to Sunday 4 March