The Riot Club (2014)

"Filthy Rich, Spoilt Rotten"

Directed by Lone Scherfig
Produced by Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin
Written by Laura Wade
Based on "Posh" by Laura Wade
Starring: Sam Claflin, Max Irons, Douglas Booth, Jessica Brown Findlay, Holliday Grainger, Freddie Fox, Ben Schnetzer, Olly Alexander
Cinematography: Sebastian Blenkov
Edited by Jake Roberts
Production company: Blueprint Pictures
Distributed by Universal Pictures International
Release date: 19 September 2014 (United Kingdom)
Running time: 107 minutes
Country: United Kingdom

"The Riot Club" is a drama thriller film directed by Lone Scherfig and written by Laura Wade, based on Wade's play "Posh". The story is about two first-year students at Oxford University who join the infamous Riot Club, where reputations can be made or destroyed over the course of a single evening.

Cast

• Max Irons as Miles 'Milo' Richards
• Sam Claflin as Alistair Ryle
• Douglas Booth as Harry Villiers
• Holliday Grainger as Lauren 
• Freddie Fox as James Leighton-Masters
• Natalie Dormer as Charlie
• Gordon Brown as Chris
• Jessica Brown Findlay as Rachel
• Sam Reid as Hugo Fraser-Tyrwhitt
• Ben Schnetzer as Dimitri Mitropoulos
• Matthew Beard as Guy Bellingfield
• Tom Hollander as Jeremy Villiers MP
• Jack Farthing as George Balfour
• Olly Alexander as Toby Maitland
• Josh O'Connor as Ed Montgomery
• Andrew Woodall as Alistair's father.
• Anastasia Hille as Alistair's mother.
• Julian Wadham as Miles' father.
• Geraldine Somerville as Miles' mother
• Harry Lloyd as Lord Ryot

As I'd decided to watch all Sam Claflin's filmography, I couldn't avoid "The Riot Club" and not for nothing: I was ready to see anything but those acts of violence which were shown turned out quite unexpected for me. Students who had everything wanted to prove themselves that they were kings of the world. And how? They ruined the restaurant and almost killed its owner. Personally for me it seemed absolutely horrific, beyond the bounds of rationality. 

However, the main indubitable advantage of the picture was acting and especially I'd like to say some words about Sam Claflin. Sam Claflin as Alistair Ryle, an insane snob, attracted my attention from the first minutes and I really stayed pleased with his striking performance.

Advantages

• Max Irons as Miles 'Milo' Richards
• Sam Claflin as Alistair Ryle
• Douglas Booth as Harry Villiers

Disadvantages

• Natalie Dormer as a really unimportant character

"Strangenesses"

• Why people can thinks that money may buy absolutely anything?

Clue Moments

• Oxford University
• The room
• The Riot Club
• The annual dinner
• "Trashing"
• Chris
• The arrest

When the play "Posh" premiered, the Riot Club was often described as a thinly veiled version of the real-life Bullingdon Club, or High Trees Society, although according to Wade it is entirely fictitious.

The Bullingdon Club is an exclusive but unofficial all-male students' dining club based in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is noted for its wealthy members, grand banquets and boisterous rituals, such as the vandalising ('trashing') of restaurants and college rooms.

The Bullingdon was originally a sporting club, dedicated to cricket and horse-racing, although club dinners gradually became its principal activity. Membership in the club is expensive, with tailor-made uniforms, regular gourmet hospitality, and a tradition of on-the-spot payment for damages.

The club has attracted controversy, due to former members now being part of the UK political establishment. These include the current Prime Minister David Cameron, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

The University of Oxford extends no official recognition to the club, and many local restaurants refuse to host its events. It is regularly featured in fiction and drama, sometimes under its own name, and sometimes easily recognisable under another.

Soundtracks

1. Kasper Winding - Riot Club Intro
2. Kasper Winding - Hugo and Miles
3. Kasper Winding - Riot Club Theme
4. Kasper Winding - Lauren and Miles
5. Kasper Winding - Alistair Recruited
6. Kasper Winding - Spirituale
7. Kasper Winding - Initiation
8. Kasper Winding - Miles Hangover
9. Kasper Winding - Dinner Preparation
10. Kasper Winding - Charlie’s Arrival
11. Kasper Winding - Birthday Cake
12. Kasper Winding - Cocaine Fools
13. Kasper Winding - Lauren’s Humiliation
14. Kasper Winding - The Big Speech
15. Kasper Winding - Good Times Transition
16. Kasper Winding - The Beating
17. Kasper Winding - Jail Time
18. Kasper Winding - Is He Dead
19. Kasper Winding - Please Forgive Me
20. Kasper Winding - Alistair’s Arrest
21. Kasper Winding - Alistair’s Triumph
22. Kasper Winding - Love Theme
23. Kasper Winding - We’re out There Somewhere (Graham Coxon)

Quotations

* * *

Mugger: Just put in the PIN number and take out 200.

Alistair Ryle: [after a long pause] It's actually just PIN. The 'N' stands for number, it's Personal Identification Number. So, if you say "Pin Number" you're saying "number" twice. You're saying "Personal Identification Number Number".
[chuckles]
Alistair Ryle: It's just wrong.

* * *

Alistair Ryle: [during a drunken rant] I'm sick to f*cking death... of poor people!

* * *

Harry Villiers: So we're at the top university in the world
Alistair Ryle: Arguably

* * *

Jeremy: We aren't the kind of people who make mistakes, are we?

* * *

Guy Bellingfield: Excuse me, I'm in charge here!

* * *

Alistair Ryle: Oops.

* * *

You may see the trailer here.

Plot: 6/10

Entertainment: 7/10

Acting: 7/10

Originality: 7/10

Music and Sound: 6/10

7/10