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Savage

Play trailer 1:52 Poster for Savage 2019 1h 40m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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75% Tomatometer 28 Reviews 66% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
Inspired by the true stories of New Zealand's street gangs across 30 years, SAVAGE follows DANNY at three defining moments in his life as he grows from a boy into the violent enforcer of a gang.
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Savage

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Critics Consensus

Savage lives up to its title with plenty of grim violence -- but dispenses its brutality in service of a well-acted and solidly effective character study.

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Critics Reviews

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Tara Brady Irish Times The triptych structure is a little fiddly, but Savage is never less than powerful. Rated: 3/5 Jan 22, 2021 Full Review Paul Byrnes Sydney Morning Herald The details of gang life are fascinating. The casting is superb: hundreds of rough-heads assembled from across New Zealand. These mean-looking buggers provide a terrifying backdrop for the power struggle. Rated: 3.5/5 Oct 8, 2020 Full Review Kevin Maher Times (UK) The debutant director Sam Kelly creates a credibly hard-hitting if depressingly repetitive (fackin, fackin, fackin, fackin) milieu, with shades of Lee Tamahori's classic New Zealand drama Once Were Warriors. Rated: 3/5 Sep 12, 2020 Full Review Carey-Ann Pawsey Orca Sound While there is plenty of violence and other things you would expect from a gang flick there is also a "softer" side here. That gives the film a realistic feel to it. Rated: 3/5 Feb 12, 2021 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews There's nothing novel about this gang movie, but in its rawness it gets the brutality right and makes for a gritty watch. Rated: B- Feb 4, 2021 Full Review Todd Jorgenson Cinemalogue ... lacks broader insight and ultimately fails to generate sympathy for Danny as he seeks redemption. Jan 30, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (23) audience reviews
Jonty R Savage is an incredibly well done story about the lives of New Zealand gangs, told with great directing and cinematography skills, bold and fresh storytelling and gritty violence. The story follows the themes of love, home, family and redemption, and clearly shows how an innocent child can become a hardened gang enforcer. Director and writer Sam Kelly, spent lots of time with real life gangsters to make sure he told an accurate story and you can see it in the end result. The actors (most of them first timers) do an excellent job in portraying Bikie life, with Jake Ryan and John Tui delivering very emotional performances. Overall a must watch classic, which I'd recommend to all film goers and inspiring filmmakers, like myself. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/08/23 Full Review Baz S It's clearly not a high budget film and thats not necessarily a bad thing, a good film is good no matter the budget sadly this most certainly does not fall into this category. It's just silly. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/08/23 Full Review gareth d It's not good, it's not terrible - somewhere in between it meanders along with Danny the Damage and his hammer. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member New Zealand gang film. Less full-on than I expected, and doesn't have the same psychological impact as Once Were Warriors. The script is light on character development, and could have delved deeper into the cultural context of the gangs. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie could be hard to watch if you are not familiar with our gang culture or New Zealand. At bit like Once were warriors (Very NZ focused). I feel this is a real deep look into the gang culture and some of the obstacles some of our people experience. An eye opener. I highly recommend watching this movie, but come in with a open mind. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member I can see this movie being hard to watch if you aren't from New Zealand or familiar with our gang culture. I personally found Savage to be a deep, hard look into some of the darkest corners of NZs past and the effects they had on young men at the time. New Zealand wasn't always Hobbits and compassionate Prime Ministers. I highly recommend this movie if you want a look at some of the hard truths of our society. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Inspired by the true stories of New Zealand's street gangs across 30 years, SAVAGE follows DANNY at three defining moments in his life as he grows from a boy into the violent enforcer of a gang.
Director
Sam Kelly
Producer
Vicky Pope
Screenwriter
Sam Kelly
Production Co
Park Road Post Production, POP Films, New Zealand Film Commission, Avalon Studios
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 29, 2020
Runtime
1h 40m
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