When exquisite lighting is what stands out the most in a movie titled Donkey Punch, something’s wrong. This British export seems at war with itself, shot with elegance belying its inherent sleaze. Adding further contradiction to the viewing experience, the film secured funding from the UK Film Council Lottery, which is of special note for a movie essentially devoid of substance.
Perhaps writer-director Oliver Blackburn (Rabbit) and co-writer David Bloom (Mad About Alice) pitched the story as a morality tale for a corrupt youth. After all, the problems in Donkey Punch start for three pretty Brits out for a weekend in Spain when they agree to accompany four complete strangers to their yacht. And take Ecstasy with them. Also, there’s the bit about videotaped group sex. Simply put, mistakes were made.
But the film isn’t really interested in preaching a lesson – if anything, Donkey Punch revels in the bad behavior of its handsome cast. The drinking, drug use and sex are photographed to be aesthetically pleasing, which is in keeping with the whole film’s style.
Donkey Punch is shot like a feature-length Calvin Klein commercial, except with murder. Despite the movie featuring the deaths of a half-dozen 20-somethings, viewers will likely leave wanting to visit Spain – that’s how gorgeous the cinematography of Nanu Segal (Shrooms) is. It may be more a commentary on the weaknesses of the film than Segal’s work, but there are moments where you are literally pulled out of watching the film in admiration of the lighting and placement of shadows.
Of course, it is easy to be distracted during a film when you couldn’t care less what happens to the characters. Such is the case with Donkey Punch, whose most reasonable characters are denoted by their mild reluctance to take Ecstasy (they still take it).
The female trio makes increasingly idiotic and risky decisions until one is killed by the titular sex act. It’s a bit hard to feel bad for them by then, despite the terrible situation they’re in. There’s no sense of watching regular people become savage, as in a film like A Simple Plan.
And even with such a naturally tense situation, director Blackburn doesn’t shoot it to maximize the sense of danger. The same pretty, music video-ready look is used in the pre-death scenes and post-death scenes. A good director would have used the camera to imply danger and rising tension in the innocuous moments building up to the violence, but Blackburn doesn’t achieve visual tension, even in the murderous moments.
Not helping matters are the characterizations, which are fairly stock for the genre. There’s the hothead who causes most of the problems (Tom Burke, Telstar); the one girl who’s not a complete party animal (Nichola Burley, Drop Dead Gorgeous); and another five youths somewhere in between those extremes.
The one exceptional performance comes from the one exceptional character: the ultimately cunning wimp Josh (Julian Morris, Valkyrie). Initially seeming out of his depth, Josh finally asserts himself once the first murder happens and is not beyond manipulating and torturing his friends and foes to serve his own ends.
Morris gives Josh a frightened veneer but a strong belief in his own intelligence, and that he pulls off a potential laughably implausible character is a testament to acting restraint. Had he overplayed his initial nerdiness or ultimate viciousness, the role would not have functioned effectively onscreen.
One good performance is not enough to retain focus, though, and as the passengers expire in increasingly horrible and spectacular fashions, the viewer is left with not much to consider. There is no emotional connection. There is no moral connection. There’s really not much in the way of any factors keeping attention, apart from the sense of watching chess pieces march about a board.
But they’re such wonderfully lit chess pieces.
dan.benamor@gmail.com
RATING: 2 out of 5 stars
