Weekender (2011)

1990. The rave scene has arrived from Ibiza and warehouse parties are exploding across the UK bringing phenomenal wealth to the organisers. In Manchester, best mates Matt and Dylan are in ... See full summary »

Director:

Karl Golden

Writer:

Chris Coghill (screenplay)

Stars:

Lee Asquith-Coe, Jack O'Connell, Zawe Ashton

Cast

Credited cast:
Lee Asquith-Coe	...	Police Officer
Jack O'Connell	...	Dylan
Zawe Ashton	...	Sarah
Sam Hazeldine	...	Maurice
Ben Batt	...	John Anderson
Henry Lloyd-Hughes	...	Matt
Stephen Wight	...	Gary Mac
Iain McKee	...	Peanut
Emily Barclay	...	Claire
Dean Andrews	...	Sargent Thompson
Richard Riddell	...	Craig
Perry Fitzpatrick	...	Chris
Tom Meeten	...	Captain Acid
Craig Izzard	...	Doorman
Lara Goodison

Storyline

1990. The rave scene has arrived from Ibiza and warehouse parties are exploding across the UK bringing phenomenal wealth to the organisers. In Manchester, best mates Matt and Dylan are in their early 20's and long to be more than just punters. As the government moves to outlaw the scene, it's now or never and they quickly rise through the ranks to join the promoting elite. They are taken on a wild journey from the exclusive VIP rooms of London clubs to the outrageous parties in Ibiza super-villas and the hedonism of Amsterdam. It's everything they dreamed of and more. But as their success continues to grow, they attract a more dark and sinister world. Matt and Dylan start to drift apart as they are forced to question the dreams they set out to achieve and their once solid friendship.

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Taglines:

The exploits of two friends who make the move from partying at illegal warehouse raves to becoming successful promoters at the peak of the Manchester, Amsterdam and Ibiza rave scene in the early 90's.

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 September 2011 (UK)

Also Known As:

Rave

Filming Locations:

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Company Credits

Production Co:

Benchmark Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

The 10 pound notes and 20 pound notes used in the film are the current notes. They had not yet been introduced in 1990. They were not introduced until towards of the end of the decade for the 10s and around 2006/7 for the 20s.

User Reviews

Rave on

Weekender follows a couple of young guys in Manchester in 1990. The pair of them are petty thieves but soon realise that they can make some money if they begin organising their own raves. Everything starts out well but serious problems soon complicate things.

Weekender is a likable snapshot of the early 90's when dance music as we now know it was just emerging from the underground. Many people started going along to raves and got loaded on ecstasy. While the movie follows the usual trajectory of ascent and descent, similar to films such as Human Traffic it doesn't have a 'drugs are bad' message. Instead the villains of the piece are local gangsters who turn up on the scene and start controlling things with force. Weekender does look back on those early 90's times with a certain amount of fondness and there is an effective soundtrack of house music to emphasise the sense of time. The music isn't the usual familiar array of well known dance anthems from the time; it goes for a more specific selection of tunes that ravers would have encountered back in the day.

In fairness there isn't anything overly new in Weekender. Its story doesn't really offer up any surprises at all. However, it's a good little movie about an important time in British music history.

(no pills were popped in the watching of this film)