Weekender

Opening with heavy beats and neon colours, Weekender is a nostalgic look at Manchester's rave culture in the early 90s. One drug-fuelled night, friends Matt (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) and Dylan (Jack O'Connell) decide to cash in on the newly emerging scene and start organising their own warehouse parties. Enlisting their radio hero, DJ Acid, soon they are enjoying great success — and with success, comes attention from rival party-planners, whose mob attitude proves to be both detrimental and dangerous. Director Karl Golden wisely lets the music inform all aspects of the film, and cleverly features lesser known tracks that add a sense of authenticity. The young cast all perform admirably, particularly O'Connell as the impressionable Dylan, while the script is sharp and frequently funny. However, the plot itself is not an original one — it is too easy to predict events — but it's hard to not get caught up by the smoky, strobe-filled excess of easy money and ecstasy-enhanced raves. [Becky Bartlett]