The Riot Club | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Lone Scherfig |
Written by | Laura Wade |
Based on | Posh by Laura Wade |
Produced by | |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Sebastian Blenkov |
Edited by | Jake Roberts |
Music by | Kasper Winding |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Universal Pictures International |
Release dates |
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Running time | 107 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Box office | $3.5 million [1] |
The Riot Club is a 2014 British thriller drama film directed by Lone Scherfig and written by Laura Wade, based on Wade's 2010 play Posh . [2] The film stars Sam Claflin, Max Irons and Douglas Booth. [3] It is set among the Riot Club, a fictional all-male, exclusive dining club at the University of Oxford. When the play Posh premiered, the Riot Club was often described as a thinly veiled version of the real-life Bullingdon Club, although according to Wade it is entirely fictitious. [4]
Alistair and Miles, both with aristocratic connections, start their first year at Oxford University. Miles is friendly and level-headed, cordially offering to switch rooms when Alistair's assigned room does not meet with his parents' approval, and beginning a relationship with Lauren, who has a working-class, Northern background. Alistair is an insecure, arrogant and cold-hearted snob. The two are tutorial partners at Oxford, where Alistair is blatant in his contempt for Miles and his left-leaning politics.
The Riot Club, a long-established exclusive drinking club priding itself on hedonism and the belief that money can buy anything, is on the hunt for new members to maintain its roster of ten men, all of whom must be educated at private schools. Alistair is invited by Harry, whom he has met during the start of their term. Miles, who was out drinking in the pub, is invited by Hugo, another Riot Club member. Alistair finds a new friend in Harry, who introduces him to his Uncle Jeremy (Tom Hollander), a senior MP—which Alistair himself aspires to be one day. After undergoing an unpleasant initiation, both Miles and Alistair become members of the Riot Club.
Having been barred from most establishments in Oxford, the club have their annual dinner at the function room in a country pub. Alistair and Miles are both surprised to see each other there, Alistair showing open disdain. The Club begin their dinner, and though the landlord is initially excited to have a wealthy, aristocratic party dining at his establishment, their raucous behaviour annoys the pub's other patrons, some of whom leave. Chris, the landlord, is put off by their behaviour and tells them that they are disrupting his business; the boys settle with an arrangement with them paying for his losses to let them continue to stay, which he reluctantly accepts. After the escort Harry hired refuses to perform group oral sex, Alistair takes Miles's phone and texts Lauren without Miles knowing. Lauren then shows up to the pub to the surprise of Miles, whom the boys promptly proposition to do what the escort would not. They insult her, and Lauren then attempts to leave the pub, but is assaulted by one of the members. Miles struggles to rescue her as the other members hold him back. Hugo intervenes and orders the boys to let her leave, which she does.
Miles, drunk and seemingly depressed after what happened to Lauren, stays quiet for the rest of the night, while Alistair works up the rest with his political ideals of the rich and the poor. Becoming progressively more drunk and ingesting drugs, they start to wreck the room. When Chris comes to confront them, Alistair insults Chris by giving him money which he does not accept, telling them they are no better than a bunch of kids breaking shop windows and that they are just spoiled brats. Alistair punches him followed by the others who viciously attack him until he becomes unconscious. While the members become frantic realizing what they just have done, Miles calls for an ambulance.
The boys are all arrested but believing that the club is more important than the individual, they agree not to give statements. The club meet after the incident and agree that Miles, as the newest club member, should take the blame for the attack on Chris. Miles tries to apologise to Lauren, who tells him to never talk to her again. Later, Chris's skin is then found underneath Alistair's fingernails, meaning they can arrest and charge him. Alistair is sent down (expelled) from Oxford, being the only one arrested for the incident, whilst the others are allowed to continue their studies without any criminal charges. After a talk with the dean, Miles is approached by the new president of the Riot Club, Guy Bellingfield, to re-join next year, but after nearly having to leave university because of the scandal, he decides to leave the club, a decision which the new president mocks.
Alistair is invited to a meeting with Jeremy in London, who asks for the Riot Club to be kept out of future court appearances, and assures Alistair that in spite of being kicked out of Oxford, the boy is still a Riot member. Though Alistair is at first aggressively dismissive of Jeremy's proposed assistance, Alistair is brought around when Jeremy offers the boy a position in his office and an assured future. The film concludes with Alistair leaving the meeting with Jeremy, a smug smile on his face as he walks down the street.
On 5 February 2013 it was reported that HanWay and Blueprint Pictures would produce the adaptation of the play Posh written by Laura Wade. The producers would be Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin, with the BFI Film Fund and Film4 Productions. [2] On 15 March 2013 Robert Pattinson, Sam Claflin, Max Irons and Douglas Booth were understood to be under consideration to play the lead. [11] On 18 March Max Irons was confirmed as the lead. [6] On 19 May 2013 Sam Claflin also joined the cast, as well as Douglas Booth. [5] On 20 May 2013 Universal Pictures International acquired the UK and Irish rights to the film. [12] On 11 July 2013, Natalie Dormer also joined the cast. [9]
The shooting of the film began on 30 June 2013 in Oxford, England. [13] The crew were spotted during the filming of scenes at Magpie Lane. [3] Filming also took place at Pinewood Studios and Winchester College.
The first trailer for the film was released on 30 July 2014. [14]
Eton College is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore, making it the 18th-oldest school in the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC). Originally intended as a sister institution to King's College, Cambridge, Eton is known for its history, wealth, and notable alumni, known as Old Etonians.
Posh is an informal adjective for "upper class". It may also refer to:
Alistair is a male given name. It is an anglicised form of the Scottish Gaelic Alasdair. The latter is most likely a Scottish Gaelic variant of the Norman French Alexandre or Latin Alexander, which was incorporated into English in the same form as Alexander. The deepest etymology is the Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (man-repeller): ἀλέξω (repel) + ἀνήρ (man), "the one who repels men", a warrior name. Another, not nearly so common, Anglicization of Alasdair is Allaster.
John Max Henry Scawen Wyndham, 7th Baron Leconfield, 2nd Baron Egremont, FRSL, DL, generally known as Max Egremont, is a British biographer and novelist. Egremont is the eldest son of John Wyndham, 6th Baron Leconfield and 1st Baron Egremont, and Pamela Wyndham-Quin, and succeeded his father in 1972. He is a direct descendant of Sir John Wyndham. He married Caroline Nelson, a garden designer, in 1978 and they have four children, three daughters and a son. He lives at the family seat of Petworth House in Sussex, which his family gave to the National Trust in 1947.
The Bullingdon Club is a private all-male dining club for Oxford University students. It is known for its wealthy members, grand banquets, and bad behaviour, including vandalism of restaurants and students' rooms. The club selects its members not only on the grounds of wealth and willingness to participate but also by reference to their education.
Laura Wade is an English playwright.
Lone Scherfig is a Danish film director and screenwriter. She has been involved with the Dogme 95 film movement. Scherfig's movies are generally romantic comedies, including her film One Day (2011), based on the David Nicholls's novel of the same name.
In England and Wales, a public school is a type of fee-charging private school originally for older boys. They are "public" in the sense of being open to pupils irrespective of locality, denomination or paternal trade or profession; nor are they run for the profit of a private owner.
Jeremy John Irons is an English actor and activist. He is known for his roles on stage and screen having won numerous accolades including an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. He is one of the few actors who has achieved the "Triple Crown of Acting" in the US having won Oscar, Emmy, and Tony Awards for Film, Television and Theatre.
Samuel George Claflin is a British actor. After graduating from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 2009, he began his acting career on television and had his first film role as Philip Swift in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011).
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Posh is a play by the British playwright Laura Wade. It was first staged at the Royal Court Theatre in April 2010. The play concerns an Oxford University dining club called "The Riot Club", a fictionalised version of the Bullingdon Club. The first production, premiering shortly before the 2010 United Kingdom general election, received favourable reviews.
Holliday Clark Grainger, also credited as Holly Grainger, is an English screen and stage actress. Some of her prominent roles are Kate Beckett in the BAFTA award-winning children's series Roger and the Rottentrolls, Lucrezia Borgia in the Showtime series The Borgias, Robin Ellacott in the Strike series, DI Rachel Carey in the Peacock/BBC One crime drama The Capture and Estella in Mike Newell's adaptation of Great Expectations.
Maximilian Paul Diarmuid Irons is an English-Irish actor and model. He is known for his roles in films such as Red Riding Hood (2011), The White Queen (2013), The Host (2013), Woman in Gold (2014), The Riot Club (2014), Bitter Harvest (2017), and The Wife (2018). He also starred in the spy thriller series Condor (2018–2020).
Frederick Samson Robert Morice Fox is an English film and stage actor. His prominent screen performances include roles as singer Marilyn in the BBC's Boy George biopic Worried About the Boy (2010), Freddie Baxter in series Cucumber (2015) and Banana (2015), and Jeremy Bamber in White House Farm (2020).
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Their Finest is a 2016 British war comedy-drama film, directed by Lone Scherfig, written by Gaby Chiappe, and based on the 2009 novel Their Finest Hour and a Half by Lissa Evans. The film stars Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin, Bill Nighy, Jack Huston, Jake Lacy, Richard E. Grant, Henry Goodman, Rachael Stirling, Eddie Marsan, Helen McCrory, and Claudia Jessie. It tells the story of a British Ministry of Information film team making a morale-boosting film about the Dunkirk evacuation during the Battle of Britain and the London Blitz.
The Night Climbers of Oxford is a secret society, dedicated to nocturnally scaling college and town buildings in Oxford, England. The society is noted for its political activism, controversial acts, feats of climbing and parkour, as well as urban exploration. The society was likely inspired by their Cambridge counterparts, The Night Climbers of Cambridge. Activities conducted by the society are forbidden by the University authorities, meaning that acts are completed under the cover of darkness, to avoid detection.
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