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Muscle
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Muscle
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- 2019
- Gerard Johnson
- 110 mins
- 18
Summary
Unhappy and unambitious office worker Simon joins a gym, but soon finds his life being taken over by Terry, his very hands-on personal trainer, who reveals himself to be more committed and dangerous than Simon could have ever imagined. Gerard Johnson's psychological black-and-white thriller, starring Craig Fairbrass and Cavan Clerkin
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IMDB
Review
A star rating of 3 out of 5.
Trevor Johnston
A schlubby loser takes up a gym membership to change his life in this British psychological drama, but he gets more than he bargained for when he falls under the spell of a controlling trainer. Following on from the gritty London crime flick Hyena, writer/director Gerard Johnson shoots this Tyneside-set tale in brooding black and white, which lends it a neatly stylish edge. Kudos are due to leading man Cavan Clerkin, who took a three-month break midway through filming in order to buff up. Meanwhile, British low-budget action stalwart Craig Fairbrass ventures well out of his comfort zone as a terrifying, sexually ambiguous nemesis. It's queasy, deliberately unsettling fare, with some explicit material as Clerkin's home gets turned into a drug-fuelled bacchanal by his new gym buddies. Be prepared to plumb the depths of masculine toxicity, even if the story doesn't quite sustain itself to the finale. Nevertheless, this is a striking, distinctive vision of how far some men will go to overcompensate for their vulnerabilities.
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6.1/10
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Credits
Cast
rolenameTerryCraig FairbrassSimonCavan ClerkinCrystalLorraine BurroughsSarahPolly MaberlyHarryAli Cook
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Crew
rolenameDirectorGerard Johnson
Details
Released on
2020-12-04
Languages
English
Guidance
Violence, swearing, discriminatory language, sex scenes, nudity.
Formats
Black and white
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