Although the
acting and directing are adequate enough, Victim
quickly becomes absolutely rubbish due to a screenplay that feels written by a
fifteen-year-old thug with a false sense of righteous indignation and a
penchant for unbelievable melodrama. It isn’t enough for the narrative to
suggest that crime is the only option for some, but it actually attempts to
make the claim that criminals are just as much victims as the people they
brutalize and steal from. While the victims of these attacks are rarely
completely innocent, that hardly justifies the theft and abuse carried out so
that the film’s protagonists can get drunk and high in style.
Tyson (Ashley
Chin) is an east Londoner in his early 20s, caring for his sister while simultaneously
living a life of crime. He repeatedly talks of getting out of this lifestyle,
but still continues his pattern of home invasion with his friends. Out of
contrived coincidence, Tyson meets Tia (Ashley Madekwe), a girl from a wealthy
family who happens to be visiting the area in an attempt to escape her violent
ex-boyfriend. Tyson’s urge to have a different lifestyle is aggravated further
upon meeting Tia, though this is not enough to stop him from stealing.
The argument
might have been made that Tyson’s criminal activity is out of necessity, with
no other way to care for his teenage sister, but this is quickly made
impossible by a lack of maturity shown in early sequences. Tyson never makes
the slightest attempt at a legitimate means of income, and when he comes across
a decent sum of money he chooses to buy his sister a new smart phone rather
than paying the bills. These actions make any words about redemption
irrelevant, because Tyson’s urge for a better life is just as contrived as the
inevitable violence from Tia’s one-dimensional ex-boyfriend.
Despite a hip
soundtrack and accurate lingo, Victim
is an insulting stupid film thanks to amateurish screenwriting and passionless
filmmaking. The contrived melodrama ending can be seen miles away, and the
message of the movie would be suspect to anyone other than the random
self-pitying criminal. The Blu-ray release includes cast interviews and a
trailer. The high definition does little for the low-budget film, and certainly
cannot distract from basic failures in filmmaking.
Entertainment Value:
3/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 3.5/10
Historical
Significance: 1/10
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