Savage

SAVAGE is a low budget, murky, and rather depressing psychological thriller from Ireland. It's about an ordinary young guy who is mugged and scarred by a gang of street thugs, and who subsequently undergoes a violent transformation into a petty criminal himself. The idea for the film's story isn't a bad one, but unfortunately this is a movie that suffers from the usual flaws of independent cinema.

The script is never as hot as it thinks it is and all of the characters are resolutely unappealing. SAVAGE tries to be a powerful piece of movie-making but for most of the running time it just sort of passes you by. I didn't care much for the main character although his physical transformation is a good one. The whole midsection of the film just seems to tread water although it does pick up for a hair-raising climax which is very good indeed; a pity that the rest of the movie doesn't follow suit.