The subject of male violence and the manosphere entered the political arena around the release of Adolescence on Netflix, which featured Ashley Walters in an acting role. Its impact was profound and it is currently the second most watched Netflix show ever made. In his debut feature film as director, Walters collaborates with screenwriter Nick Love (The Football Factory) for a gut-wrenching look at life behind bars at a young offenders’ institute. It’s the perfect setting to view a microcosm of marginalised working-class men that follows in the footsteps of Alan Clarke’s Scum in terms of its bleak, oppressive ambience. It sets itself apart by serving as a harsh yet hopeful male coming-of-age film. Walters spent nine months on remand when he was 19 years old awaiting trial, and the central character in this film finds himself in the same position.
We first meet 15-year-old Troy (Tut Nyuot) as he’s entering an institution. He’s scared and bullied into sneaking in a burner phone by a lad who seems familiar with the system. At the same time, he meets new Polish inmate Krystian (Vladyslav Baliuk), with whom he forms a close bond as they navigate the humiliation and volatility of prison life. They’re both first-time offenders and outliers shoved into a hostile environment where the pressure to perform as something that you most certainly are not leads to desperate measures and depression. Stephen Graham also appears as a welfare officer who offers support and advice, including that Troy reconnects with his estranged mother (Sharon Duncan-Brewster).
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In recent years the British prison drama has documented the inhumanity and futility of the penal system, as seen in films such as Wasteman, while Starred Up was written by Jonathan Asser (who has experience of running group therapy sessions for inmates) and took a compassionate look at the possibility of rehabilitation. Walters’ film translates Troy’s anxiety and interior feelings into nerve-shredding tension that’s nicely balanced with tender moments. Calm is only ushered in when Troy and Krystian show vulnerability, and some of their scenes are infused with a gentle warmth. However, their shared storyline is hampered by Love’s hit-and-miss script, which is occasionally predictable and both upends and falls into frustrating tropes.
For the most part, Walters’ confidence behind the camera serves the film well. He focuses on small details such as etchings on cell walls that scream out silently for help. He is also clearly gifted at guiding his actors who turn in credible performances across the board. Thematically, Animol is a film that is concerned with the lessons that young lads are being taught when it comes to masculinity. It takes the viewer on a disturbing journey through brutal violence, shame and pain while also delivering a redemptive sense of sweet relief through a character who eventually finds a path through an unwelcoming macho wilderness. It’s a film that elicits a huge amount of empathy for any man or boy who doesn’t adhere to social convention and instead finds the strength to rebel against it.