Admittedly, I’m not up on my knowledge of crime thrillers. Then again, it’s not one of my favorite genres. But, there are films that do elicit multiple viewings, such as Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive. Writer/director Gerard Johnson, whose previous work Tony hinted at London’s seedy underground, returns with corrupt-cop thriller Hyena, which made its debut at the 2014 Edinburgh Film Festival, and later made its North American debut at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Michael Logan (Peter Ferdinando) is a corrupt cop with a coke habit who leads a special task-force that tackles London’s biggest drug traffickers. The group invariably trades favours and information with the Turkish and Albanian gangs in exchange for drug money, while also partaking in the seized wares themselves. However, things change when the Albanians take out the Turks, and Michael is assigned to investigate the Albanians for sex trafficking. From there, Michael is also now being watched by a Nick Taylor (Richard Dormer) and his group of cops, determined to get him. Things are compounded even more when an old foe of his, undercover cop David Knight (Stephen Graham) resurfaces as Michael’s new boss, and threatens to expose Michael and his unit’s corruption.
Right off the bat, Hyena wastes little time in establishing its mood. Michael and his group descend upon a club and proceed to beat up everyone there. The slow-motion violence and visceral nature of the attack is accentuated and mixed with the pulsating lights, the smoke and driving beats of the music. It’s very much reminiscent of Drive‘s atmosphere with the neon lights and synth music. The electronic score by Matt Johnson is pretty evident of this. The nihilistic tone set by the opening sequence continues throughout the film as people are brutalized and killed, almost nonchalantly at times. It’s a very harsh film, with a multitude of greys for characters that is honestly quite exciting.
As far as our protagonist goes, Peter Ferdinando is excellent. Michael is the anti-hero amongst a film full of anti-heroes. He takes protection money and looks the other way, does the drugs that he confiscates, and worms him way into the good graces of whomever is on top in the criminal underworld. The character is as repulsive as it is fascinating, especially when he finds himself tangled up in his own corruption, looking to save himself. The secondary cast only add to the weighted tension of the film. Elisa Lasowki notably puts in a tough performance as Ariana, a victim of the Albanian sex trafficking system, and who’s rescued by Michael after being raped. It’s also here that Michael develops a bit of humanity, and also throws him further into the corruption that he’s sown. As mentioned, there are no heroes or good guys in this film, which makes for both good and not-so-good times.
At its core, Hyena is a pretty depressing film. The initial fascination of the story, the characters and the brutal violence quickly starts to run thin because of it. All of the characters seem more likely to backstab and cheat their way to the top. Even though Michael himself seemingly starts to redeem himself, he ultimately doesn’t learn anything or improve himself. Furthermore, we’re never really given backstory as to why Michael is the way he is. It’s this dehumanizing of the character that prevents us from really getting attached to him. Coupled with the cliches of police corruption and (sort-of) redemption, and the film’s penchant for not maintaining its seemingly drug-fueled speed throughout its nearly two-hour runtime, Hyena isn’t a film that will be much of a hit with viewers.
Ultimately, while the film deserves praise for its lack of restraint in its sheer visceral atmosphere, the tension and its brutal violence, the excitement wears off when you realize that the film has nothing more to offer. While it’s one thing to have a host of characters with various shades of grey for morality, you quickly lose interest when there’s nothing but grey. See it out of curiosity, but don’t be surprised if you get the feeling to turn it off before the end.