Looted – Gritty & Engaging
Director: Rene van Pannevis
Writer: Rene van Pannevis, Kefi Chadwick (Screenplay)
Starring: Charley Palmer Rothwell, Thomas Turgoose, Tom Fisher, Morgane Polanski, Anders Hayward, Stephen Uppal
Plot: Rob lives his life at 100mph, carefully balancing carjacking schemes and caring for his dying father. But one risky job could bring it all crashing down.
Runtime: 1 Hour 29 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Looted starts as we meet the group of friends in Hull Rob (Rothwell), Leo (Turgoose), Kasia (Polanski) and JP (Hayward) that roam around committing carjackings and other breaking and entry crimes with the lack of job opportunities in the area. Rob is also caring for his bedridden father Oswald (Fisher) as the two barely see any income coming from his previous job.
Rob is pushed into one more job by Leo, one that will pay better than anything they have done before, which will only lead to bigger problems and consequences for Rob.
Thoughts on Looted
Characters & Performances – Rob is a young man that has been carjacking for money while caring for his father, he spends most of his day getting up to minor crimes, he is holding in the problems he is going to face, holding the truth from his father which will continue to show how he is waiting to unleash the pain he is experiencing. Charley Palmer Rothwell does a great job in the leading role, he shows the difficult position that his character finds himself in. Leo is the friend that has the connection in the criminal world, he pushes his friends including Rob to commit the crimes, which always feels like he is using them for both friendship and to help himself out. Thomas Turgoose will always be good in British dramas about the struggle to survive, this is no different, where he shows how he has become the man to turn to in this area. Oswald is the father of Rob who has worked his whole life, but now is bedridden, he is waiting for an operation which could change his life as well as him not wanting to just rely on his son. Tom Fisher shows the pure pain his character is experiencing after a lifetime of hard work. Kasia is one of the group of friends, she is the only positive light in Rob’s life, helping him with his father. Morgane Polanski does bring us the most honest figure in the film, showing they want more in her characters life.
Story – The story here follows a small time criminal who commits the crimes to help care for his ill father, with one big opportunity could change everything and it does. This film uses the story to highlight the struggles of the working class that will find jobs hard to come by, leaving them wanting to kill time and turning to illegal activities to get what they need out of life. We do get to focus on one young man’s decision making, which will lead to him needing to decide what is the most important thing for him in the future, which is the true aim of the story.
Themes – Looted uses the setting to show the small town that the people are from, showing they don’t have much of a chance of jobs, which leads them to the life of crime. The crimes themselves are mostly breaking and entry, which shows how the friends aren’t overly serious about what they are committing.
Looted is a powerful drama that highlights the difficult life people in the North of England can live through, showing how far they will need to go to survive.
