The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael

Possibly the most morally bankrupt film I've ever seen.

Film Review by Paul Greenwood | 13 Oct 2006
Film title: The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael
Director: Thomas Clay
Starring: Daniel Spencer, Lesley Manville, Danny Dyer
Release date: October 20th
Certificate: 18

Robert Carmichael (Spencer) is a clever and talented student, but he's sullen and withdrawn and prone to sudden bursts of rage. He's taken to hanging around with a dodgy crowd and, as they skulk through the streets of their rundown seaside town, their activities eventually escalate to shocking levels of violence. 'The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael' is possibly the most morally bankrupt film I've ever seen, taking the most disturbing elements of 'A Clockwork Orange' and 'American Psycho' and removing all the comedy and satire, until all that's left is a putrid hole, with Clay's position seeming to be that Blair's Britain is rotten to the core. Vile and morally irredeemable it may be, but there can be no denying the technical brilliance with which it's made, nor the gut wrenching impact it has. One truly exceptional unbroken sequence sees the camera glide slowly round a room as people sit around or take drugs, while the DJ's music isn't quite loud enough to drown out the screams of the girl being raped in the next room. I certainly didn't enjoy it and I never want to see it again for the rest of my movie watching days, but I left the cinema shaking and I don't think I'll ever forget it. [Paul Greenwood]

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