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Scum

Play trailer Poster for Scum R 1979 1h 36m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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89% Tomatometer 9 Reviews 91% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Perverse conditions within a British reform school reach a boiling point.

Critics Reviews

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Justin Chang Los Angeles Times 07/06/2017
The visual equivalent of spare, brilliant prose that occasionally bleeds (and bleeds and bleeds) into poetry. Go to Full Review
Alan Scherstuhl Village Voice 06/14/2017
One of the great films about boys and violence ... Go to Full Review
Tanner Tafelski Kinoscope 11/18/2018
It's a film that hammers home the depravity of institutionalization... Go to Full Review
Ted Whitehead The Spectator 02/01/2018
Alan Clarke's direction is hard, clear and utterly uncompromising, and the performances of his largely unfamiliar cast are so authentic and convincing as to make one flinch. Go to Full Review
Mike Mazzanti The Film Stage 06/14/2017
B
Scum lives up to its title to this day, its manic energy balanced with an assured and naked openness that creates a searing level of realism and, as such, savagery. Go to Full Review
Fernando F. Croce CinePassion 04/01/2010
Clarke's prison, like Losey's, crystallizes the societal rot on the outside Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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matthew C 05/21/2024 A must see for boys groeing up. See more matthew w 11/30/2023 Re Watched this again recently & it's safe to say it hasn't lost any of its grim brutality. Alan Clarke's controversial & disturbing take on the British borstal system in the seventies is a tough watch. See more 10/20/2021 Gripping, heartbreaking, and probably the grimmest thing I've seen since since Threads. Scum is a Tour de Force which deconstruct the punitive institutions of the state. Clarke does an awful lot with very little (I can't recall hearing a single piece of music in the film), and having also seen Penda's Fen recently it's fair to say I'm something of a convert to the guy. Some fantastic performances as well from the young actors, though I note that at 22 Winstone was a little older than his character! See more charlie l 10/11/2021 You're not watching for the characters or the plot so much as the awful environment that makes the story what it is. See more 08/19/2021 Alan Clarke's infamous portrayal of the borstal system forced a reevaluation of the structure on its release back in 1979. Banned on release, labeled repulsive and disgusting amongst other things, none of these accusations are unfounded, but they do miss the point somewhat. I consider myself pretty desensitised over many years of watching films, but I was shocked at the violence in Scum, in the best way possible. It's probably the best I've seen Ray Winstone, this his breakout role, and there's also a terrific performance from Mick Ford as the eccentric Archer. Despite the violence, I couldn't tear my eyes from Scum. It's far from just a video nasty, and it's certainly not just a shock picture. It's engrossing and harrowing, well performed, and wonderfully raw. It's lost absolutely none of the power it would have had on release in 1979, and if you can stomach some wince inducing violence, Scum is ninety minutes you won't regret. See more 04/24/2021 British classic full with future legends. See more Read all reviews
Scum

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis Perverse conditions within a British reform school reach a boiling point.
Director
Alan Clarke
Producer
Davina Belling, Clive Parsons
Screenwriter
Roy Minton
Production Co
Kendon Films, Berwick Street Productions
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (DVD)
Sep 7, 2004
Box Office (Gross USA)
$5.4K
Runtime
1h 36m