HUSH YOUR MOUTH

Leo (Jason Maza) looks innocent enough as the film opens, a typical London youth whose main adversary is day-to-day boredom. But we quickly realise from his narration that he is one furious individual. The reason for his anger soon becomes clear: the murder of his brother Darren.

Darren's murder plays out bloodily during the subsequent opening titles, and then the film starts proper as Leo breaks the terrible news to his half-sister Trish (Jade Williams). She copes with the tragedy by withdrawing into her dream of making it one day in America ... while sleeping with drop-outs in back alleys in the meantime.

Meanwhile, an up-and-coming local news reporter becomes intrigued in why such a liked member of the community should wind up being washed ashore, slaughtered.

The action then shifts to reveal the police and their archaic attitudes towards what they perceive as yet another gang-related youth slaying. Lead detective Alan (Jay Simpson) can barely hide his disdain when confronted by Darren's irate mother (Ruth Sheen), who demands swift justice for her son's murder.

It's not long before they've found someone to fill the role of prime suspect: Isaiah (Coshti Dowden), Leo's mate. While Alan begins to give Isaiah a hard time in interviews, the lad finds himself up against similarly unfriendly faces on the outside world. It seems that others now suspect him of the killing too.

The weeks pass by and the case remains unsolved. Leo cannot move on, despite throwing his energy into boxing. The violent, senseless loss of his brother is eating him up inside. It doesn't help that his mother is sinking farther and farther into despair, and Trish is fucking up in the classroom and on the streets.

The tension is palpable ... something's got to give. How long until Leo's mates provoke him into an ugly confrontation with his friend Isaiah? How long until little brother learns more of the facts surrounding Darren's death?

HUSH YOUR MOUTH director Tom Tyrwhitt began his career making short films, all of which were produced by Liza Brown. The pair of them have now graduated to feature-length filmmaking with HUSH YOUR MOUTH - directed by Tyrwhitt and penned by Brown. Together, they proffer the film under the mantle of their company Brightspark Productions.

They've crafted an excellent drama that deals with the problems of today's violent youth culture intelligently, never poking the moral stick but instead fleshing out its characters with compassion and an adroit sense of storytelling.

It helps that the largely young cast cope so well with the savvy script, ensuring it's always reasonably authentic to consider. It becomes easy to empathise with almost all of the characters. There is no evil, just frustration: everyone has understandable motivations for their actions, no matter how dubious they may at first seem.

The suspicion directed towards the police feels genuine enough, both from the cagy kids and Mrs Collins - dubious of leaving her trust in people much younger than she. But even the cops are given a fair crack of the whip in Brown's screenplay, avoiding the predicted stereotypes.

Tyrwhitt's style is unforced, unfussy and naturalistic. Soft blue hues lend the film a visual finesse but, thankfully, not at the expense of the urban grittiness so perfectly approached throughout.

Ultimately, HUSH YOUR MOUTH impresses most as a film dealing in themes of honour, loyalty, community spirit (portrayed as being both good and bad) and revenge. In the latter respect, the film ranks alongside the likes of Wes Craven's THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT as one of those rug-pulling thought-provokers that suggests violence is never justifiable - regardless of the trigger.

The film looks excellent in this uncut, anamorphic widescreen transfer. It truly does. Colours are natural, flesh tones are accurate and blacks are stable throughout. Detail is fine and depth is well conveyed.

Audio is provided in English 2.0 and is highly proficient.

Static menu pages include a scene selection menu allowing access to the main feature via 17 chapters.

Extras consist of a Making Of documentary, a couple of short films and more.

The Making Of documentary is brilliant. Split into 13 potential chapters via a sub-menu, this looks into the acting, the shoot, the music, the themes and even how the cast responded to working with the erudite Tyrwhitt. It's a highly engaging and informative featurette that flies by at 36 minutes in length. My only gripe is that there is no "Play All" option.

The short films featured here are the musically betrothed 16-minute 16mm affair A LITTLE FAITH from 1998 and 2000's TIP OF MY TONGUE - an enjoyable trite comedy about the potential for a failed relationship to work again, co-starring Ben Miller (television's "Armstrong And Miller"). The latter is shot on 35mm and, at 18 minutes in length, is more or less akin to a pilot episode of some TV sitcom that never was. It's pretty cool.

There are also minimal storyboards offered in respect of A LITTLE FAITH.

A music video by Sukie Smith entitled "Madam" is nondescript while not being terrible. Judged against the glut of cringe-inducing music videos I get to see on lo-fi DVD releases, that's no mean feat at all. The song is dreadfully maudlin though.

A skilled young cast, an air of authenticity and an intelligent script ensure HUSH YOUR MOUTH brings a fresh twist to the revenge genre. It's a seething, stylish and raw piece of cinema that heralds the arrival of quite a lot of new British talent - on both sides of the camera.

Recommended.

Review by Stu Willis