Beats | |
---|---|
Directed by | Brian Welsh |
Screenplay by |
|
Based on | Beats by Kieran Hurley |
Produced by | Camilla Bray |
Starring |
|
Cinematography | Benjamin Kračun |
Edited by | Robin Hill |
Music by |
|
Production company | |
Distributed by | Altitude Film Distribution |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 96 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | > £25,000 [1] |
Box office | $325,493 [2] |
Beats is a 2019 British drama film directed by Brian Welsh. [3] [4] It was based upon a play of the same name by Kieran Hurley, who adapted the screenplay with Welsh; Steven Soderbergh acts as an executive producer. The plot follows a pair of teenage friends in 1994 Scotland who try and sneak into an illegal rave party. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 17 May 2019.
The film is set in 1994 in Livingston, Scotland, against the backdrop of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which effectively banned outdoor rave parties across the whole of the UK. Best friends Johnno and Spanner are going to a rave for the first, and perhaps last time together.
Brian Welsh first came into contact with Steven Soderbergh around 2015, after Soderbergh had seen an episode of Black Mirror that Welsh had directed and approached him with a new project. While Welsh turned that down, he showed his Beats script to Soderbergh, who then signed on as an executive producer on the film. [5] For the climactic rave sequence, filming took place in a warehouse in the Glasgow city centre, using over 1,500 background actors. [1] The film's soundtrack was curated by JD Twitch of Optimo. [6]
Beats had its international debut at the 2019 International Film Festival Rotterdam. [7] On 17 May 2019 it was released in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, and on 7 November 2019 in the Netherlands. [8]
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 98% based on 62 reviews, with an average of 7.7/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Well-acted and enlivened by an evocative soundtrack and period detail, Beats draws timeless themes out of its specific story and setting." [9] At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 74 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [10]
Wendy Ide of The Guardian gave the film 4/5 stars, writing: "It's a terrific little film that combines the earthy humour and honesty of a Shane Meadows movie with an unexpected expressionistic section – flooded with colour – that channels the boys' joyful dancefloor abandon." [11] In a separate Guardian review, Mike McCahill gave it three stars, saying that "this teen bromance eventually escapes into amiable nostalgia and artful euphoria". [12]
Steven Andrew Soderbergh is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. A pioneer of modern independent cinema, Soderbergh later drew acclaim for formally inventive films made within the studio system.
Trainspotting is a 1996 British black comedy drama film directed by Danny Boyle, and starring Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Robert Carlyle and Kelly Macdonald in her film debut. Based on the 1993 novel by Irvine Welsh, the film was released in the United Kingdom on 23 February 1996.
24 Hour Party People is a 2002 British biographical comedy drama film about Manchester's popular music community from 1976 to 1992, and specifically about Factory Records. It was written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and directed by Michael Winterbottom. The film was entered into the 2002 Cannes Film Festival to positive reviews.
Mogwai are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite, Barry Burns, Dominic Aitchison, and Martin Bulloch (drums). Mogwai typically compose lengthy guitar-based instrumental pieces that feature dynamic contrast, melodic bass guitar lines, and heavy use of distortion and effects.
Kafka is a 1991 mystery thriller film directed by Steven Soderbergh, from a screenplay by Lem Dobbs. Ostensibly a biopic based on the life of Franz Kafka, the film blurs the lines between fact and Kafka's fiction, creating a Kafkaesque atmosphere. It stars Jeremy Irons in the title role, with Theresa Russell, Ian Holm, Jeroen Krabbé, Joel Grey, Armin Mueller-Stahl, and Alec Guinness. Simon McBurney appears in his film debut.
Do the Collapse is the 11th album by Dayton, Ohio indie rock group Guided by Voices. In contrast with their lo-fi reputation, the album features glossy production work from Ric Ocasek, which drew a mixed reception from critics and fans. "Hold On Hope" was covered by country singer Glen Campbell on his 61st album Ghost on the Canvas in 2011. In his introduction to James Greer's book Guided by Voices: A Brief History: Twenty-One Years of Hunting Accidents in the Forests of Rock and Roll, Academy Award-winning film maker Steven Soderbergh referenced the album stating "that album Ric Ocasek produced was terrific."
Solaris is a 2002 American science fiction drama film written and directed by Steven Soderbergh, produced by James Cameron and Jon Landau, and starring George Clooney and Natascha McElhone. It is based on the 1961 science fiction novel of the same name by Polish writer Stanisław Lem.
The Girlfriend Experience is a 2009 American slice-of-life drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh, written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, and starring then-pornographic actress Sasha Grey. It was shot in New York City, and a rough cut was screened at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2009. The film was also made available on Amazon Video on Demand as a pre-theatrical rental.
Contagion is a 2011 American medical disaster thriller film directed by Steven Soderbergh. Its ensemble cast includes Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Elliott Gould, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle, Sanaa Lathan, and Gwyneth Paltrow. The plot concerns the spread of a highly contagious virus transmitted by respiratory droplets and fomites, attempts by medical researchers and public health officials to identify and contain the disease, the loss of social order as the virus turns into a worldwide pandemic, and the introduction of a vaccine to halt its spread. To follow several interacting plot lines, the film makes use of the multi-narrative "hyperlink cinema" style, popularized in several of Soderbergh's films. The film was inspired by real-life outbreaks such as the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak and the 2009 flu pandemic.
Side Effects is a 2013 American crime thriller film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Scott Z. Burns. It stars Rooney Mara as a woman who is prescribed experimental drugs by psychiatrists after her husband is released from prison.
Not Another Happy Ending is a 2013 British romantic comedy film directed by John McKay, starring Karen Gillan, Stanley Weber and Freya Mavor. Produced by Claire Mundell and Wendy Griffin, and written by David Solomons, the film premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on 30 June 2013. It was largely shot in Glasgow's Merchant City.
Logan Lucky is a 2017 American heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh, based on a screenplay credited to Rebecca Blunt. Soderbergh came out of retirement to direct the film and distributed it independently through his own company, Fingerprint Releasing. The film features an ensemble cast consisting of Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Riley Keough, Daniel Craig, Seth MacFarlane, Katie Holmes, Hilary Swank, Katherine Waterston, and Sebastian Stan. The film follows the Logan family and their attempt to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway whilst avoiding security officers and the FBI.
High Flying Bird is a 2019 American sports drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh, from a story suggested by André Holland, with the screenplay by Tarell Alvin McCraney. The film stars Holland, Zazie Beetz, Melvin Gregg, Sonja Sohn, Zachary Quinto, Glenn Fleshler, Jeryl Prescott, Justin Hurtt-Dunkley, Caleb McLaughlin, Bobbi Bordley, Kyle MacLachlan, and Bill Duke, with additional appearances of basketball players Reggie Jackson, Karl-Anthony Towns and Donovan Mitchell. The film follows a sports agent who must pull off a plan in 72 hours, pitching a controversial opportunity to his client, a rookie basketball player during the company's lockout. The film was shot entirely on the iPhone 8, becoming Soderbergh's second film to be shot on an iPhone, after Unsane.
Morfydd Clark is a Welsh actress. Her appearances include Love & Friendship (2016), Interlude in Prague (2017), and The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019). Also on television, she played Mina Harker in Dracula (2020) and Sister Clara in His Dark Materials (2019).
Let Them All Talk is a 2020 American comedy-drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh from a screenplay by Deborah Eisenberg. The film stars Meryl Streep, Dianne Wiest, Candice Bergen, Lucas Hedges, and Gemma Chan. Much of the dialogue was improvised by the cast, and Soderbergh shot the film using natural light and little equipment aboard the Queen Mary 2.
Inna De Yard: The Soul of Jamaica is a 2019 music documentary film about Jamaican reggae music, written and directed by Peter Webber. The film is based around the recording of an album in Kingston, Jamaica by Jamaican reggae music veterans. It also "doubles as a capsule history of Jamaican reggae" and shows the band performing the songs at a concert at Le Trianon in Paris.
Are You Proud? is a 2019 documentary about the LGBT rights movement in the UK directed by Ashley Joiner.
Contagion (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the album consisting of original score composed by Cliff Martinez for the 2011 film Contagion, directed by Steven Soderbergh. The film marked Martinez and Soderbergh reuniting for the first time after nine years, since Solaris (2002). The score consists of orchestral elements which were incorporated, and being fused with the predominantly electronic sounds of the score. Several pieces of the score had been written with the influences of temp music used by Soderbergh in the edits. The score consisting of 20 tracks was released by WaterTower Music on September 6, 2011, while the vinyl edition was released on October 20, 2017 by Real Gone Music.
The Quiet Maid is a 2023 satirical drama film written and directed by Miguel Faus which stars Paula Grimaldo alongside Ariadna Gil, Pol Hermoso, and Luis Bermejo.
The Projectionist is a 2019 Greek-American documentary film about Nicolas Nicolaou, a Greek-American New York-based movie theater proprietor. The documentary was directed by Abel Ferrara.