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Villain is a rare thing in cinema these days – an 18-certificate. Too many studios steer away from it, sometimes reducing violence and other scenes in a bid to get a 15-certificate, even if it means compromising artistic integrity. Then again, that extends mainly to mainstream Hollywood cinema, and not indie movies like this, which will generally take more chances.
Eddie Franks (Craig Fairbrass – one of the highlights in the recent-ish Battlefield V) is being released from prison, after 10 years inside, with a vow never to return, and so he spends the next 90 minutes tending to wild flowers and reading books from the library. The end…. NOT!
However, someone who’s not quite on the level is his brother, Sean (George Russo), who’s in with some bad guys including Roy Garrett (Robert Glenister), as we see from the opening scene. Amongst all the East End bravado, Eddie upsets Roy’s henchmen who have run up an £800 bar tab, he tries to reconnect with his daughter, Chloe (Izuka Hoyle – Mary Queen Of Scots), and we also get some grisly scenes that nicely pinpoint why it’s an 18-cert.
Will Eddie be able to settle the debts with Roy that Sean has run up, while he’s been behind bars? Will Roy accept Sean’s apology and settle down with a nice cup of tea and a slice of cake? Or will there be blood shed and bones broken?
Some, none or all of this will happen within the next 90 minutes or so, but it’s a pretty engaging watch all the same.
Below, you can see some of the levels from Battlefield V beginning with the intro scene and then onto Mr Fairbrass’ chapters.
Villain is released on today on DVD and is also available on Amazon Video.
Film score: 6.5/10
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 97 minutes
Studio: Vertigo Releasing
Year: 2020
Released: April 20th 2020
Format: 2.39:1
Director: Philip Barantini
Producer: Bart Ruspoli
Screenplay: Greg Hall, George Russo
Music: Aaron May, David Ridley
Cast:
Eddie Franks: Craig Fairbrass
Sean Franks: George Russo
Chloe Franks: Izuka Hoyle
Michael Till: Mark Monero
Johnny Garrett: Tomi May
Rikki: Eloise Lovell Anderson
Jason: Taz Skylar
Steve: Nicholas Aaron
Roy Garrett: Robert Glenister
Freddie Bagshot: Michael John Treanor
Mark Watts: Marcus Onilude
Carla Till: Jennifer Matter
Marie Garrett: Cassie Bancroft
Flirty girl: Jade Asha
HMP Officer Hendrix: Lee Nicholas Harris
HMP Officer Mellet: Andreina Sambucetti
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.