Facing financial ruin courtesy of an impending welfare reform, full-time carer Sadie (Shian Denovan) comes up with an audacious scheme to sabotage the new 'Independence Credit' before it can be voted in. She plans to send the government spiralling into chaos by stealing their leverage and crippling their chief whip. In order to do it Sadie will have to sneak into one of the UK's most secure buildings, so she's going to need some help.
Let's face it, any opportunity to see a bunch of snivelling politicians - represented here by Ray Bullock Jnr's deliciously evil Chief Whip - get their comeuppance is going to be welcome with pretty much anyone. Even more so when it comes as the result of an Ocean's Eleven style heist. Somehow, through this cheesy heist movie that very closely reflects the world we live in - certainly here in the UK - writer/director/producer Christopher Presswell and writer Forgács W. András have actually managed to make treason look fun. Now Ocean's Eleven this is not, which is probably a good thing - I don't think we want filmmakers sharing methods for breaking into the Houses of Parliament. So you could say The Whip is pretty ridiculous, and you would be right. At times it's about as plausible as Pierce Brosnan folding a painting into his briefcase in The Thomas Crown Affair. But that doesn't mean it can't be clever, or fun. In fact, The Whip manages to be both, whilst also being culturally relevant, which is pretty impressive given the rather sensitive subject at the heart of this story.
Refreshingly, the movie doesn't dance around the struggles of those who live with disability, and the people who care for them, it confronts those struggles head on. Seeing Sadie's sister, Emily (Meg Fozzard), go through a rather dehumanising assessment for the new welfare system - all of which is based on extensive research - is rage inducing, regardless of whether you have any experience of such a process or not. And through Fozzard and Denovan's excellent performances you get a real sense of how humiliating such an experience must be, as Emily is reduced to a number and a series of answers on a form. But it's not all negative. The movie has something to say beyond 'the government is shit'. With the idea that we can do better permeating almost every scene, The Whip feels more like a challenge, or at least a call for improvement, and the onus is very much on everyone.
Needless to say, with all that The Whip opens our eyes to it's not hard to get behind Sadie when she has her eureka moment, even if it is a bit of a leap. I guess the right mix of drive and desperation can lead us to do just about anything. Although I would have expected the recruitment of her collaborators to have been slightly more challenging. Still, thanks to some great performances and a colourful bunch of characters, this crazy endeavour unfolds with a satisfying mix of tension and amusement. All the usual issues and dilemmas heist movies are known for, apply. With the team attacking them with the kind of hilarious out-of-the-box thinking you'd expect - as well as some you wouldn't - of a group of people undertaking their first crime. It's also satisfyingly British; nothing flash, no bravado, no unnecessary theatrics, just what it takes to get the job done. Their work-around for getting into a safe is particularly comical.
That same British way of doing things has been applied by Presswell in his shooting style. Hindered by Covid restrictions, the writer/director/producer has used a mix of real locations and digital sets to achieve an impressive level of authenticity. In other words; London looks like the real London, and not the Hollywood version. Seeing these amateur revolutionaries standing outside the very building they're plotting to sneak into adds a degree of reality - something I imagine must have felt a little odd for the actors. Either way, thanks to this clever use of locations and the drive to make it look and feel as authentic as possible, this crazy idea that a bunch of regular people could sneak into the Houses of Parliament, on some level actually begins to feel believable. That said, I don't think Presswell and his team are suggesting any of us should actually try. But it does mean that by the time the much anticipated heist kicks off, the tension is rising and you're approaching the edge of your seat.
A fun heist movie that strikes a clever balance between reality and the ridiculous. The Whip may be silly and cheesy, but it's also unflinchingly optimistic. At the heart of this story there's a message of bipartisanship and collaboration. One that simply says: 'look what we can do when we put our differences aside'.
8/10
The Whip will be released in select UK cinemas from 4th September 2024.
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