Scum

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Scum

R,

1979,

1h 36m,

Drama

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Watchlist

89%

9 Reviews

Tomatometer

91%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

89%

Tomatometer

9 Reviews

91%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Perverse conditions within a British reform school reach a boiling point.

Justin Chang

Los Angeles Times

Jul 6, 2017

The visual equivalent of spare, brilliant prose that occasionally bleeds (and bleeds and bleeds) into poetry.

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Alan Scherstuhl

Village Voice

Jun 14, 2017

One of the great films about boys and violence ...

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Tanner Tafelski

Kinoscope

Nov 18, 2018

It's a film that hammers home the depravity of institutionalization...

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Ted Whitehead

The Spectator

Feb 1, 2018

Alan Clarke's direction is hard, clear and utterly uncompromising, and the performances of his largely unfamiliar cast are so authentic and convincing as to make one flinch.

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Mike Mazzanti

The Film Stage

Jun 14, 2017

B

Scum lives up to its title to this day, its manic energy balanced with an assured and naked openness that creates a searing level of realism and, as such, savagery.

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Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Apr 1, 2010

Clarke's prison, like Losey's, crystallizes the societal rot on the outside

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Jun 26, 2018

Very gritty and ultimately realistic film

Leia S

Dec 18, 2017

a long and unpleasant movie, prison sucks. i guess it had to be banned because of the male rape scene. this isnt a horror movie its a prison drama

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Draco R

Nov 7, 2017

Alan Clarke directed films never cease to stray from the controversial. Sometimes to party political for my liking but not on this occasion. The film focuses on juvenile punishment and detention in the U.K. which upon release in 1979 for males were the controversial Borstal detention centres. The subject matter in the film and the widespread public viewing of it probably went someway to a change in Government policy in the area. Borstals were scrapped. The film shows gritty and at times extremely disturbing scenes including physical violence, suicide and male rape. In particular a young Ray Winstone stars as 'daddy' prisoner Carlin. The film is notable for fleeting performances from actors some of whom became mainstays of British television drama in the 1980s. The films broached politically incorrect subjects such as racism and indeed breaches the limits of film classification for adult audiences. Clarke delivers another memorable (controversial) film.

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Alan Clarke

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Ray Winstone

Carlin

Mick Ford

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Julian Firth

Davis

John Blundell

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Synopsis

Perverse conditions within a British reform school reach a boiling point.

Director: Alan Clarke
Producer: Davina Belling, Clive Parsons
Screenwriter: Roy Minton
Production Co: Kendon Films, Berwick Street Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (DVD): Sep 7, 2004
Box Office (Gross USA): $5.4K
Runtime: 1h 36m

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