Down Terrace

R

Released Oct 15, 2010

1 hr. 33 min.

Crime

Drama

Comedy

List

86%

36 Reviews

Tomatometer

61%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Bill (Robert Hill) and his son, Karl (Robin Hill), work together in the oldest of family businesses -- organized crime. After spending a few days in jail, they return home and realize they may have a rat in their midst. As they try to pick out the informant from a group that includes a corrupt politician (Mark Kempner) and an unpredictable hit man (Michael Smiley), Karl learns his girlfriend (Kerry Peacock) is pregnant and deals with his wife's anger, as well as his parents' disapproval.

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Ravenswood R

This is like watching one episode in the middle of a possibly good TV series, without seeing any of the other episodes. It is shot with very little creativity or any attempt at artful photography or scene set-ups Photographically, there is only ever one level of lighting used (room filling, cool, and bright), and shaky cameras moving from person to person - like a TV show. So, as cinema art, this is low on the spectrum. There are characters here, but far too many, and not enough time to develop any of them. I couldn't follow the story, mostly trying to keep all the people straight and who they all were and what they all might be doing, or for what reason. Violent at times, in a supposedly humorous way, but that does not work. Given a chance to figure it all out in a 10-12 hour series rather than in a 90 minute slice might have worked, but maybe not, because this is also quite boring.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

10/10/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Very much Ben Wheatley. Ordinary reactions to extraordinary circumstances. A good story, kitchen sink in full view, but I didn't see enough of the dark humour that was suggested in the reviews. Loved whatserface from Spaced playing the mum...

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Definitely more low end gangster, it's very watchable in a slightly comedic way with an impending sense of dread and doom present throughout.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Brilliant, sick, funny, claustrophobic first feature by Ben Wheatley about a crime family searching for a police informer in their midst. More Royale Family than The Godfather.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Sour people and places, slapstick serial killing and reality organised crime, with a streak of hippy and folk culture, plus some charming music. An excellent ensemble cast delivers this portrait of the English criminal class, who look and sound just like anyone else you might meet in the average neighbourhood. It takes a while, but not all that long, to see them as they really are. The film is also a finely constructed, if blunt, allegory for the passage of time, the rise and fall of power, and generational change. It is delivered with sophisticated English wit, and plenty of laughs.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Ben Wheatley knows how to create not only realism within the context of the unreal, he knows how to keep the audience in suspense and never misses the opportunity to surprise. A very dark film well worth seeing.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

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Ben Wheatley

Director

Robert Hill

Bill

Robin Hill

Karl

Julia Deakin

Maggie

David Schaal

Uncle Eric

Tony Way

Garvey

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Critics Consensus: Red Is Hot Stuff

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Chris Chang

Film Comment Magazine

[Julia Deakin's] Ma Barker role (and performance) is essential to the film's grotesque yet enthralling familial fatalism.

Jun 17, 2013

Full Review

Kate Taylor

Globe and Mail

The British do kitchen-sink realism extremely well; they also have a nice way with black comedy. It's rare, however, to see the two as wickedly combined as they are in Down Terrace.

Rated: 3/4

Nov 12, 2010

Full Review

Jason Anderson

Toronto Star

A low-budget effort by British director Ben Wheatley, Down Terrace is an enjoyably nasty piece of business about a down-market sort of underworld clan.

Rated: 3/4

Nov 11, 2010

Full Review

Tim Stevens

The Spool

Even if you don’t share the writers’ sense of humor, it is easy to sense they’re laughing wildly at each act of bloodshed.

Aug 2, 2023

Full Review

PJ Nabarro

Patrick Nabarro

A film that is compelling in its own right, while also functioning meta-referentially - as a commentary on the gangster and kitchen sink genres it so mercilessly distorts.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 8, 2018

Full Review

Abby Olcese

Scene-Stealers.com

It's basically a surprisingly funny mumblecore movie with a focus on guns and murders instead of self-indulgent whining and indie-pop music.

Jun 24, 2017

Full Review

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Synopsis

Bill (Robert Hill) and his son, Karl (Robin Hill), work together in the oldest of family businesses -- organized crime. After spending a few days in jail, they return home and realize they may have a rat in their midst. As they try to pick out the informant from a group that includes a corrupt politician (Mark Kempner) and an unpredictable hit man (Michael Smiley), Karl learns his girlfriend (Kerry Peacock) is pregnant and deals with his wife's anger, as well as his parents' disapproval.

Director: Ben Wheatley
Screenwriter: Robin Hill, Ben Wheatley
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
Production Co: Baby Cow Productions
Rating: R (Violence|Some Drug Use|Pervasive Language)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Comedy
Original Language: English (United Kingdom)
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 15, 2010, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 19, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $9.6K

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