Review of Filth (2013) by Spangle — 17 Apr 2017

Filth is a tough film to watch. Focusing in on a man who is deeply unhappy with himself and drowns himself in booze, drugs, women, and terrorizing people in his line of work, Filth is a decidedly filthy experience. Its raw and depressing look at the life of a broken man who sees hallucinations and is haunted by the wrongs he attributes to himself, Filth is never overly welcoming. Its protagonist is brash, brutal, and confrontational as he takes his anger out on a world that he feels has wronged him and focuses in on areas that he hates about himself. It is out of this hurt and hatred for the world and himself that a man such as Bruce Robertson (James McAvoy) is born. Vying for a promotion to Detective Inspector, Bruce is put on a murder case where a Japanese boy is killed and tasked with solving a case in which a man's wife is being harassed by a sexual predator on the phone. The latter of which is obviously Bruce, but nobody can know that, right? Taking aim at his co-workers who also aim to be promoted, Bruce is in direct competition mainly with Ray Lennox (Jamie Bell) - who he does drugs with and has even engaged in a threesome with - and Amanda Drummond (Imogen Poots) - a good natured woman who is incredibly knowledgeable and on the rise. He also spits vitriol at his various co-workers for having what he does not: an embracing of who they are, a wife, kids, or for simply being a woman. Though married, and we do see his wife Carole Richardson (Shauna Macdonald) from the very beginning, it quickly becomes clear that Bruce is no longer married. From the dreamy way in which Carole's scenes are shot to Bruce's isolation at all times, he may lie that she and his daughter Stacey are still around, but he is actually alone. He tries to fill his time with various women and drugs, neither of which actually fulfill him and only serve to send him further and further down into his spiral of self-hate.

That said, its approach to this story is undoubtedly quite abrasive. It is a film that dares you to hate it and its protagonist. In many ways, this is emblematic of its protagonist. Once a good man, he clutches onto a woman who still considers him to be good due to his heroic actions. That one scene, where he provides CPR to a collapsed man, speaks to this good nature. Yet, as he has lost his wife, children, has repressed homosexuality, sleeps around, treats people like garbage, and does drugs, he feels as though he is "filth". He wants that affirmation from that world that he is "filth", in order to satisfy his own thought process. Those who see him as a good man are rare and, deep down, his soul craves people to recognize the good in him. Yet, no matter where he goes, the ugly inner hatred in him stirs back up and washes away any desire to be loved, as he is filth and should be seen as such. Thus, his - and the film's - abrasive nature is the embodiment of this. It wants you to hate him and it because it depicts a cruel and wicked man. It dares you to see past that and find the good side of him and realize he is actually a sympathetic man, tormented by his past mistakes and things he blames himself for.

The film does present some issues beyond its inherent bleakness and lack of redemption for its character. This main issue is a lack of development of Bruce's background. It sprinkles in elements and we begin to understand how he became this way, but it seems as though it almost happened on a dime. There is a lack of understanding as to where his wife went, how an issue from some long ago could just pop up after him being a good man for so long, and who the mysterious doctor he encourages is and what he does for him. The film writes these off as hallucinations and many would probably find this information trivial, as we understand he is broken. Why does the how matter? Yet, it certainly does matter where we see this man just spiral down into a fit of hatred with no high point. He just goes lower and lower. There is no balance to this character study. He just gets progressively lower and even more irredeemable at every point in this film. Though there are a few glimpses at his softer side, they are quickly drowned out in sorrow. What could have bolstered this is more comedy, but this film's brand of black comedy never really appealed to me too much and largely left a lot to be desired.

That said, this is a passionately told character study that, though it is overly depressing, is quite well-written with an excellent turn from James McAvoy in the lead role. Playing a cruel and wicked man who became that way from self-hatred, Filth is a sad and brutally bleak hour and a half. Though it never really brightens things up or provides proper context for his self-hatred, it is still a highly compelling character study of a pure antihero that winds up being quite heartbreaking when we see what he has been hiding within himself all these years.