Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Ralph Brown | ... | D.S. Karn | |
Clint Dyer | ... | Leon Delroy | |
Rafe Spall | ... | D.C. Wilby | |
Anjela Lauren Smith | ... | Georgie | |
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Merlin Reeves-Dyer | ... | Background Artist |
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Simone Reeves-Dyer | ... | Background Artist |
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Jordan Allen | ... | Background Artist |
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Johanna Ambaye | ... | Background Artist |
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Guido Geissler | ... | Background Artist |
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Katrina Hardy Saenz | ... | Background Artist |
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Keiran Mahon | ... | Background Artist |
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Laurie Mahon | ... | Background Artist |
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Cherish Rufaro Mutambara | ... | Background Artist |
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Steven O'Connell | ... | Background Artist (as Stephen O'Connell) |
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Anna Sawyer | ... | Background Artist |
1979: Election Night - A police interview room. Delroy's pregnant wife has been found dead in a pool of blood and he is brought in as the chief suspect. He is interrogated by D.S. Karn, a witty, psychotic racist and his violent sidekick D.C. Wilby. Both high on the prospect of a Conservative landslide victory they try to lure him into a quick confession. Callous humiliation gives way to a barrage of sinister violence, leading to a devastating conclusion. Written by Third Eye Films
It's clear from the outset that SUS is the filmed version of a play; it's set in a single location, with three actors, and contains some very theatrical mannerisms. I'm sure that seeing it in person would have been a great success, but as a film it feels like something of a failure. It's totally non-cinematic, it feels overlong and it's one of those films where not much really happens.
It's also a film that hits you over the head with a political agenda from the outset, which is something I'm not too keen on. This time around they're pushing a liberal mindset, with the cops depicted as racist pigs and the blacks subjected to irrational hatred and violence, but it all feels a bit obvious. It's the sort of thing that you'd expect to take up ten minutes of screen time in a film detailing other stuff, but instead it's stretched out to feature length.
There's no faulting the acting, particularly from Ralph Brown as the elder of the two cops, although it does feel like Rafe Spall is showing off a bit, desperate to get the camera to take notice of him. Trying to come out from his father's shadow perhaps? Clint Dyer is fine, of course, in a difficult part. But this is hardly enjoyable and it hardly adds anything new that we don't already know about racism in the UK.