Dead Man's Shoes

Richard (Paddy Considine) returns to his home town from a time in the Army. He's there for one thing: to get revenge on the group of men (mostly local drug dealers and ne'er-do-wells) who tormented his disabled younger brother Anthony (Toby Kebbell).

No good will come of this.

CW: drug abuse, sexual assault, cruelty, violence, suicide

On paper a quite simple revenge story this is a bleak as bleak tale far removed from action movie treatments of such things.

It is not a Liam Neeson movie.

The people involved are the dregs of society who few will miss and Richard goes about making them suffer: more through fear than violence though it does end in that. In flashback we get to see how they interacted with Anthony and what came to pass.

He's accompanied by the spectre of Anthony who he makes sure never sees his tormentors.

Where we end up I'm not sure. Shane Meadows pours a big puddle of bleak into a bucket and showers us with it but unlike something like "Morvern Callar" there's no transformation or revelation. Maybe a little crumb of redemption in Richard giving Anthony some support in death he didn't in life but it feels exhausting.

It's got something but it may not be for everyone 7/10.