Sex is currency. It commands power and can instill fear. Tom, a young man with a troubled past finds himself sucked into a seedy underworld by George Norris, a now super villain with a sadistic streak. A helpless pawn in one of Norris's narcotic scams with a bent cop, Dunston, Tom is dragged deeper into a vicious circle of blood money, vice and ruthless violence from which their seems no way out. Until fate gives Tom a glimmer of hope. When Norris is killed in his apartment, Tom seizes his chance to escape. Terrified and covered in Norris's blood, Tom heads downstairs to his neighbors, Max and Nikki his new friends in the city. With going to the police out of the question, Max and Nikki speed Tom to their desolate cottage deep in the Welsh countryside. With the luxury of space, Tom begins to realize a long-forgotten dream; a return to happier times before his innocence was shattered. Suppressed emotion flood back provoked by Tom's attraction to Nikki...
Acting
Daniel Newman's shattered fragility against Mark McGann's reptilian menace.
Cinematography
Claustrophobic urban grime violently interrupted by deceptive Welsh openness.
Director
Gary Wicks
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Gary Wicks never made another feature; this remains his sole cinematic statement on power and exploitation.
Released in 2001, it sits awkwardly between the gritty British gangster revival (Lock, Stock) and the emerging New Queer Cinema visibility—neither fully exploitational nor fully liberated in its gaze.
US
GB
