A harmless kook turns out to not be as harmless as expected in this independent thriller. Tony (Peter Ferdinando) is a mild mannered, severely withdrawn man in his early 40s who has trouble relating to other people, doesn't communicate well with strangers and can't hold on to a job. Tony relies on public assistance to pay for his tiny flat, and he spends his days wandering the streets while watching a steady stream of action movies at night. One evening, Tony invites a pair of ne'er-do-wells
back to his apartment, and we soon learn his secret -- beneath Tony's benign exterior is a man with a violent temper, and when his guests make him angry, he kills them in cold blood. This isn't the first time this has happened, and we follow Tony as he deals with the aftermath of his crime and prepares for his next outburst. The first feature film from director Gerard Johnson, Tony received its North American premiere at the 2010 Slamdance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Johnson and cinematographer David Higgs shoot this mundane horror in drab, flat colours, accentuating the invasive intimacy with which we're thrown into Tony's life. The entire screen has the greasy texture of accumulated filth.
Undeniably bleak, but blood-blackly funny and disturbing rather than depressing, this puts Johnson in the Shane Meadows league, and with Ferdinando the director may also have his own ready-made Paddy Considine.
A masterclass in psychological horror. Funny, terrifying and with a central character to be both despised and pitied, here's a movie that once seen is very, very hard to forget - not necessarily a good thing.
Gerard Johnson's low-budget streets-of-London downer is nominally about a serial killer, but in Peter Ferdinando's remarkable title-role it becomes rather more about urban loneliness and alienation.
No one could possibly regard Tony as without flaws. It is often rough and ready - but it is most certainly the product of a real and very promising film-maker, inhabiting a convincingly original world of its own.
More of a blackly comic social drama than a horror or thriller and has more in common with the work of Mike Leigh and Alan Clarke than it does with the serial killer genre.
Tony is a look at a serial killer and their everyday life. Tony is awkward, very awkward, and this leads to him being ignored or mistreated by the majority of people. Tony manages to gather sympathy throughout the film as he just so happens to encounter a lot of scummy, horrible people. These people generate no
sympathy for themselves, but not in a bad way. The film seems to suggest that we should all just be decent human beings. There's no harm in saying "hello" or having rational discussions. It's the hate and negativity aimed at Tony that fuels his actions. Peter Ferdinando gives a brilliant performance and carries Tony, realistically, through a wide range of scenarios, from unprovoked arguments, to awkward job interviews. A little, but well executed film.
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