Like the party that serves as its climax, the retro teenage-friendship movie “Beats,” set in 1994 in Scotland, owes its appeal to mood and vibe. The soundtrack provides a constant, toe-tapping thump.
The story involves two friends, Johnno (Cristian Ortega) and Spanner (Lorn Macdonald). Johnno will soon move to a better neighborhood. His mother, Alison (Laura Fraser), and her partner, a police officer (Brian Ferguson), are eager for him to get away from Spanner, whose family Alison regards as “scum.” Spanner may be a loose cannon, but he has a peculiar sense of ethics. He also lives with a violent, poorly reputed brother — and unlike Johnno, he’s going nowhere.
For a last hurrah, the boys set their eyes on a secret rave organized by a rebel D.J. The party is a protest against a new law targeting gatherings that blast music with “repetitive beats.” (During one scene, we hear a track composed specifically to skirt this rule.)
The film comes from a play by Kieran Hurley, though its sense of motion is such that you would never guess it could be stage-bound. The director Brian Welsh shoots in black-and-white with occasional, judicious splashes of color — initially only red from the “on” lights on radios. During the rave sequence, a hint of chromatic aberration increasingly gives way to color and collage, to a point where the cinematography and editing appear to be tripping. Maybe it’s overkill, but this tender, detail-filled movie lives for the moment.
Beats
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 41 minutes. Watch through virtual cinemas.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
