Hyena
Introductions are always important to film. Can you remember how you felt when Ryan Gosling, scours the L.A. night, rolling his car filled with criminals and 80s synth pop in Drive? Or the surrealist imagery as Scarlett Johansson assimilates and transforms into a human with Under The Skin? An introduction hooks you in. It drenches your cinematic tongue with a taste of the meal you are about to devour.
So imagine this. The neon lights of a grimy London club. A haze of smoke and a thudding beat that slowly drums against your heartbeat. Through the dankness, a squad of coppers emerge, diligently slamming their weapons into every body there. A paced yet brutal attack occurs – the club is getting raided. Slick, twisting violence, a masterfully placed score and this ultra-violet setting all smack this sense of dread and the macabre thought – Hyena is not going to be an easy watch.
Director Gerard Johnson has masterfully brought elements of different crime genres and still laces his film with enough depth and originality that it cackles like the titular beast. Hyena revolves around Michael, a waylaid cop who, along with his fellow officers, bend the law to their own whimsy. On their trail is the hot-headed Nick Taylor and his crew of merciless coppers who’ll ravage London’s dark underbelly for drugs, sex and money. However, when two Albanian brothers add their rage and vicious undercover cop David comes back on the scene – Michael must sort it out
Corruption in our police force has been the tantalising audiences globally and crime drama has been at the core of the UK cinema industry. Johnson is very astutely away of how to deliver the genre a fresh slab of gritty meat and watch as we feast uneasily upon it. The director, whose previous film Tony was an equally ensnaring London crime romp, has created an astonishing slice of realism that squirms into your brain and hatches long after viewing. He makes the film as impactful as possible, trotting down a road filled with violence because the viewer needs to and has to see the brutality of the streets. Johnson coats his film with this haunting, naked cruelty yet still wields his eyes on the vehement beauty of it all. It’s an terrible enchantment.
Centre is Michael, an anti-hero and corrupt cop that resonates just as loudly as characters before him such as Bruce Robertson in Filth and Alonzo Harris in Training Day. He swallows enough class A drugs and does shady dealings with criminals in order to rest loftily on top of his pecking order. Played with strength and depth by the incredible Peter Ferdinando, Michael’s journey is shrouded by the blood pumping from a visceral vein he’s uncovered. The script and Ferdinando’s acting pushes you away from the character whilst simultaneously dragging you this pulsating story. Strength exudes from Ferdinando and this is his film as much as it is Johnson’s, pushing the boundaries of the actor’s talent. Alongside him is a hefty supporting cast; Stephen Graham, Richard Dormer, Neil Gaskell and Tony Pitts all throw weighted characters into the mix and add to the tension and enthralling plot.
Hyena is a courageous and dark thriller. The film is complete with an undeniably perfect score by Matt Johnson that simply enhances the alluring spectacle we see. Though certainly not for the faint of heart, Johnson is incautious when it comes to his crime and cop drama. Here, the violence and the story are well-rehearsed, developed and mastered so that it hits you in the right places.
The violence mulls over in your mind, knots in your stomach and deepens your breath. And that makes a powerful film.
Read my interview with director Gerard Johnson and actor Richard Dormer!