Feedback

Brexit. What a pain in the hoop. England's in turmoil and we can't get away from it. The Leavers won the vote and the Remainers and everyone else are suffering because of it. It's not going to plan and the winners are wondering why people aren't on their side, why isn't the EU being nice to them, why isn't Ireland siding with them? After all what did England ever do to the world......

Jarvis Dolan (Eddie Marsan) is a very opinionated radio DJ who's views on Brexit & Trump have gotten him in serious trouble.The radio station he's working for are worried and want him to go back to his old fun ways but he's having none of it despite the fact that his life has been threatened on more than one occasion. His boss Norman (Anthony Head) wants to pair him with his old DJ partner Andrew (Paul Anderson) to quell the storm raging but the appearance of 2 masked men with Belfast accents proves they might have left things a little too late.

Feedback is a film about the sins of the past and how, try as you might, you'll never get away from them. How past actions echo through eternity and the damage, both physical and psychological, that goes hand in hand with them. It's quite an exhausting watch and not a very subtle one but it's effective stuff. The bad guys aren't from Belfast for no reason and as such the story becomes a microcosm for all the dastardly and despicable deeds from England's sordid past. A past it chooses to ignore until, like Jarvis and Paul, it's rubbed in their face.

With it's slit throats and sledgehammered faces it's a tough watch, to the point of being repugnant in places but there's no denying it's topical and the always brilliant Eddie Marsan gives it socks in the role of Jarvis. Marsan has the part of "man with a huge capacity for anger" down to a tee with his turns in Ray Donovan, Happy Go Lucky (he's amazing in this one) and now this and it's a vicarious thrill getting to see him have a chance to let loose, even when you don't agree with him at all. We're used to seeing him forever turning up on the sidelines of bigger films so it's nice to see him headline a film even when when it's one are hard going as this. Paul Anderson, another actor well used to violent appearances takes on a different shade here and will make your skin crawl during a particularly well acted confessional moment. His Andrew is as far from Peaky Blinders Arthur Shelby as you can get.

Not a bad little film at all and a very timely one too. It's not for everyone but if you like a side order of crunch with your political messages it's well worth a go. Out on DVD/Bluray now.