Trespass Against Us Review

Once Upon A Time In The West Country

♦Tripwire’s Editor-in-chief JOEL MEADOWS took a look at the new Michael Fassbender crimedrama, Trespass Against Us, out today 3 March in UK cinemas…

Trespass Against Us
Director: Adam Smith
Stars: Michael Fassbender, Brendan Gleeson, Lyndsey Marshal, Georgie Smith
Trespass Against Us, which was actually finished last year, is an odd film. Fassbender, like Michael Shannon, likes to vary his film diet as an actor, mixing huge blockbusters with more intimate dramas. Trespass Against Us is a drama set somewhere in the West Country, near Bristol, about a traveller family engaged in some slightly dodgy activities, headed up by its patriarch Colby Cutler (Gleeson) whose son Chad (Fassbender) would like to leave the petty criminal life that the family is embroiled in. Chad has a son, Tyson, and he would like to leave the criminal life he inhabits. But he feels trapped in it.

The idea is an intriguing one and the setting does mark it out as unusual from your typical fare. However, the script doesn’t quite gel and despite some decent performances from Gleeson and Fassbender, with a solid supporting cast featuring the likes of Sean Harris and Rory Kinnear, it all feels very slight. Tonally, it is all over the place too. It is admirable that Fassbender wants to make films at a lower budget but Trespass Against Us just feels like a bit of a wasted opportunity.

Trespass Against Us is out now in UK cinemas

Trespass Against Us review www.tripwiremagazine.co.uk