DVD: Down Terrace (18)

Reviewed,Ben Walsh
Thursday 09 September 2010 19:00 EDT
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"The police like to get their claws into idiots like that," maintains the gangster mother (Julia Deakin, excellent) in Ben Wheatley's riveting low-budget black comedy.

The family business, which mostly involves drug dealing from their grotty Brighton home, is unravelling, and the paranoid trio – the unpredictable dad (Robert Hill), psychotic mum and "weak" son (Robin Hill) – suspect a police informer in their midst. Wheatley has a complete hold on the world of these squabbling villains, and this naturalistic drama very much feels like a gangster flick as done by Mike Leigh. It's full of resentment, gripes, unsettling brutality and inspired and droll dialogue.

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