Review of Filth (2013) by Pablo P — 24 May 2016

The obvious weaknesses of the film would be a script that felt a bit unfocused, and the jarring tonal shifts. The overall tone and direction don't seem to do justice to the amazing performance McAvoy gives, as his character descends further into despair.

The 'blue filter' and ultra-high exposure in some shots distracted from otherwise decent camerawork. The strengths, however, are really in the themes of the story itself: this is not a film about the redemption of a bad man.

Rather,sometimes it takes a bad man to tell another when they've gone bad (to paraphrase the movie, itself) The message isn't built around high minded idealism, but it at least offers a silver lining in the mind of a tortured nihilist.

This makes the film feel refreshingly candid. McAvoy delivers s beautiful performance, as he is able to take issues of substance abuse and mental health to speak to common anxieties that we all share.

There are some plot elements that didn't feel entirely resolved, but then again, life goes on unresolved, and that was probably the entire point.