DVD Review: Beats

Beats, set in Scotland in 1994, tells the story of two close friends who decide to attend a rave in protest of a new restrictive and oppressive law, and as a final bit of fun before one of them is to move away. A title card at the beginning gives the historical context for the film: “In 1994, the British Government announced the Criminal Justice & Public Order Bill. It outlawed unlicensed gatherings ‘at which amplified music is played…wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats.’” And then the music starts, with a repetitive beat, and we are introduced to the two mates – Spanner and Johnno – dancing in their respective bedrooms while on the phone, excited by the music. The music suddenly stops, and we see the boys’ home lives in a state of relative quiet. The film is mostly in black and white.

Johnno (Cristian Ortega) works at a grocery store, the type of crummy job we all had at that age. Its stifling and lifeless atmosphere is in great contrast to the joy and energy of the music he and Spanner enjoy. His mother’s new husband, Robert (Brian Ferguson), is a police officer, who early in the film attempts to connect to Johnno, but fails. That moment when Johnno goes up to his room and turns on his music is something that we can all remember from our own youths surely, so it’s easier for us to connect to Johnno than it is for Robert to do so. Word comes that there will be an underground rave that Friday, and just in time too, for Robert and Alison (Laura Fraser) are moving the family to a new neighborhood in a week, trying to give them, and perhaps Johnno in particular, a fresh start, away from people like Spanner. But it is Spanner who really needs a fresh start, away from his brute of a brother, Fido (Neil Leiper). And he tries to get it by stealing money from his brother and attending that rave.

When they arrive at the rave, Spanner acknowledges the scene is nothing new, that it’s all been done before. Johnny says yes, but “It’s not been done by us.” And that’s really the thing about being a teenager, isn’t it? It’s nothing new, yet it’s all new to them, and so it matters. That’s a nice moment between them before things get crazy. And when the drugs take hold, the film moves into color. It’s actually a really cool section, with some psychedelic imagery combined with images of machines, working so well with the music. Basically at this point, the film tries to immerse us in the experience the characters are having, and is largely successful. And once having done that, it returns to black and white, and soon trouble arrives, in the form of Fido and his cohorts, as well as the police, who are determined to shut the party down, even if excessive force is needed to do so. The shots of the police moving into the crowd remind me of certain films of the late 1960s and early 1970s, such as The Strawberry Statement. The movie doesn’t end there, however, and what follows is the best and most moving section of the film.

This is a film about friendship, and about taking some chances in the name of friendship. There is a whole lot of joy to this film, and long before the end you will come to care about both Johnno and Spanner. There are also plenty of nice details throughout the movie. In particular, I love the spray-painted message on a wall in the background at one point: “Your fear of looking stupid is holding you back.”

Special Features

The DVD contains few special features. Scotland 1994: The Making Of Beats is a short behind-the-scenes featurette that includes interviews with Keiran Hurley, who co-wrote the screenplay and wrote the play on which it is based, and Brian Welsh, who co-wrote the screenplay and directed the film. They talk about the process of turning the play into the film. Also interviewed are cast members Cristian Ortega and Lorn MacDonald. The shooting of the rave scene is a large part of the focus of this featurette. This is approximately seven minutes.

Two photo galleries are included, the first being production stills, the second being the promotional posters. The film’s trailer is also included.

Beats was directed by Brian Welsh, and released on DVD on September 8, 2020 through Music Box Films. It is presented with optional subtitles. Though the film is in English, interestingly the subtitles come on automatically, as if it were in another language. I suppose that is because people sometimes have trouble with heavy Scottish accents.