Donkey Punch (2008)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Oliver Blackburn

Writers:

Oliver Blackburn (writer)
David Bloom (writer)

Release Date:

18 July 2008 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

This party is going overboard

Plot:

Things go drastically wrong for a group of British holidaymakers in Spain.

Plot Keywords:

Partying | Spain | Yacht | Slap In The Face | Female Nudity

Cast

Robert Boulter	...	Sean
Sian Breckin	...	Lisa
Tom Burke	...	Bluey
Nichola Burley	...	Tammi
Julian Morris	...	Josh
Jay Taylor	...	Marcus
Jaime Winstone	...	Kim

Also Known As:

The Punch (UK) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for a scene of strong sexual content involving an aberrant violent act, graphic nudity, violence, language and drug use.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:18 | Ireland:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | Australia:R | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Finland:K-18 | Singapore:R21 (Cut)

Filming Locations:

Cape Town, South Africa

Company:

EM Media

Trivia:

The opening scene in which the girls hop from bar to bar is clearly shot in Cape Town, South Africa, along Camps Bay promenade. The first bar is Café Caprice and the second is The Grand (previously Opium on the Beach). The beach on which they are sitting when they first meet the boys is on the Atlantic Sea Board as well.

Wonderful exploration of teenage minds

3 girls meet a group of guys in a club whilst on holiday. The guys take them onto their yacht where a terrible accident during sex causes suspicion and tension amongst them.

28 Days Later and its sequel 28 weeks proved Britain can do horror with their sharp representation of zombies and fast styled thrilling action and devastating ratio of death in context of the country's population. Donkey Punch further promotes the dramatic concept of death by encoding 7 teens and stylizing the idea on what should be a fun filled experience.

Opening with three young girls on holiday and looking to explore the local bars and such may be ordinary but the minimal dialogue and the focus on the settings helps differ from convention and achieves a high realism. Many films promote all the dialogue as essential but this 2008 picture gives all realism in account of the story's context, if occasionally predictable.

Drugs, sex, drama, this isn't as Skins as it would hope. The blood thirsty side of the narrative places it more into horror, but then there is not nearly enough action to posses such a genre. This is a psychological drama filled with teens living their lives in a fun filled manner we have expected thanks to such films like Kidulthood and TV show Skins. But a drastic turn during sex has everyone's heads rolling and the film explores human emotions relating to death and how to approach the situation. The drastic turn of events is good, if not as tense and exciting as it had the potential to be. Oliver Blackburn's stylised direction works wonders and after viewing, I'm wondering how the direction would have benefited from a faster scripted narrative.

The acting is far from brilliant but then this wasn't challenged to be an Oscar contender, more a drama promoting the concept of teen violence and lives. No, Donkey Punch gets by on a realistic script. Many critics and reviews I have read seem to dislike the script and the lack of action. Lack of action is more on many levels as it shows this isn't a run of the mill horror thriller concerned with dazzling special effects. Its purpose is to explore mindsets and entertain through its hard decisions and dramatic taste.

The vivid sex scenes at the beginning give the film that erotic twist to add the dramatic consequences to the narrative, and well directed, looking extremely real and will have eyebrows raising.

Whereas there is a lack of action, Donkey Punch is still a fast flowing thriller that does well exploring the mindset of teenagers, but doesn't have the punch to pip Skins