The Dirties (2013)
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Two high school students create a film project about revenge that spirals into a disturbing reality.
The story
High school students Matt Johnson and Owen Williams begin a film project titled 'The Dirties' centered on a gang of bullies and the revenge taken by two victimized students. While filming, Matt interviews students and faculty about bullying, discovering that seeking help is more difficult than adults perceive. As the boys edit their footage, they explore personal dynamics, including Owen's crush on a popular girl. However, the project takes a dark turn when their rough cut is revealed to contain scenes of students and a teacher being shot and killed, leading to a confrontation with their film teacher.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
High school students Matt Johnson and Owen Williams create a film project about revenge against bullies. After a rough cut is rejected by their teacher for containing graphic violence and expletives, the boys continue to develop 'The Dirties II.' Matt begins acquiring school blueprints and obsessively planning a school shooting, even telling a classmate, Chrissy, about his plans. While Owen tries to maintain a normal social life and pursue a relationship with Chrissy, Matt's behavior becomes increasingly erratic and antisocial. Matt self-diagnoses as a psychopath and begins stockpiling firearms. Their friendship fractures as Owen becomes terrified by Matt's obsession. After a final argument, Matt burns his notebooks and goes to the school with a duffel bag of guns. He sets up cameras and begins shooting students, eventually cornering Owen in a classroom.
- First release year
- 2013
- Runtime (minutes)
- 83
- Production countries
- Canada
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Matt Johnson
- Writers
- Matt Johnson · screenplay; Evan Morgan · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Matt Johnson; Owen Williams; Krista Madison
- Genres
- found footage; comedy-drama
- Themes
- bullying; revenge; school violence; mental health
- Tone and mood
- comedy-drama; black comedy
- Premise and plot tags
- found footage; teen film; independent film
- Reception
- The film received generally favorable reviews, praised for its compelling take on bullying and its deconstruction of violent revenge.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 81% · review count: 36; Metacritic · score: 65 · scale: 100 · review count: 14
- Awards and nominations
- Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative · Slamdance Film Festival · 2013 · win
- Production trivia
- The production budget was $10,000.; The film's financing came entirely 'out of pocket'.; The school's real students were informed they were being filmed but were not told the plot.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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