The Riot Club

Name: The Riot Club
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Released: March 27, 2015
Duration: 107 min
Rating: 54
Cast: Douglas Booth, Holliday Grainger, Jessica Brown Findlay, Max Irons, Sam Claflin

2015

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 25 Ratings

See All

5.8

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

5.8	Your Score
5.8	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 25 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

The Riot Club (US)

Now Playing: The Riot Club (US)

Movie Details & Credits

IFC Films | Release Date: March 27, 2015 | R

Starring: Douglas Booth, Holliday Grainger, Jessica Brown Findlay, Max Irons, Sam Claflin, Tom Hollander

Summary: In the elite realm of Oxford University, no society is more exclusive than The Riot Club, the ultra-selective fraternity for Britain's most privileged sons. When he's recruited to join, down-to-earth first-year student Miles (Max Irons) is at first amused—but he's about to get a taste of upper-crust entitlement at its ugliest when aIn the elite realm of Oxford University, no society is more exclusive than The Riot Club, the ultra-selective fraternity for Britain's most privileged sons. When he's recruited to join, down-to-earth first-year student Miles (Max Irons) is at first amused—but he's about to get a taste of upper-crust entitlement at its ugliest when a hedonistic night of drinking and drugs spins out of control. [IFC Films]… Expand

Director: Lone Scherfig

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller

Rating: R

Runtime: 107 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Buy on

Stream On

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

The Guardian Catherine Shoard

Sep 14, 2014

The Riot Club hands its audience a ticket, as well as a free pass to pour scorn over proceedings. That's a double-bill which should prove pretty irresistible. Read full review

Stephen Holden

Mar 26, 2015

Lone Scherfig (“An Education”), the Danish filmmaker who directed the movie from a screenplay by Ms. Wade, has coaxed wonderfully nasty performances from a young cast. Read full review

Ben Nicholson

Sep 14, 2014

It makes for entertaining viewing but its power is undermined by a ultimate lack of insight amongst the debauchery. Read full review

Graham Fuller

Mar 26, 2015

Don’t bother with The Riot Club unless you enjoy watching filthy rich young Englishmen conduct an orgy of violence while vilifying the poor. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Brian Tallerico

Mar 27, 2015

It’s a film that seems to have no further point than to remind us that some powerful jerks were once powerful jerk kids. Point taken, but it’s not cinematically satisfying. Read full review

Mike D'Angelo

Mar 25, 2015

Boys will be boys and wealthy a--holes will be wealthy a--holes in The Riot Club, an alleged cautionary tale that revels in bad behavior for nearly two hours before finally offering up a stern “tsk, tsk, tsk.” Unlike the great gangster and outlaw movies, however, this unpleasant, moralistic film doesn’t succeed in making transgression look cathartically appealing. Read full review

Clayton Dillard

Mar 22, 2015

The thinly sketched characters of the film are numerous and inconsequential, with director Lone Scherfig giving sparse attention to humanizing or deepening them. Read full review

SEE ALL 18 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

foxgrove

Mar 27, 2015

Based upon the popular west end hit play Posh, this opened up film adaptation is a far more successful enterprise and brings clarity to the jealous rivalry which is a core ingredient propelling the rest of the story forward. Sam Claflin and Max Irons play two students who are newly recruitedBased upon the popular west end hit play Posh, this opened up film adaptation is a far more successful enterprise and brings clarity to the jealous rivalry which is a core ingredient propelling the rest of the story forward. Sam Claflin and Max Irons play two students who are newly recruited into the said club, which has been a tradition at their school for many years. Claflin quickly has his nose put out of joint when Irons wins an initiation test forced upon them by the existing 8 members, and the seeds are sown for a revenge which turns out to be more potentially damaging than any of the boys could have imagined.
Whereas the play more or less just set the scene for the dinner itself where vandalism, violence and the high jinks of a bunch of ‘spoilt brats’ is the order of the day, the film carefully sets up Claflin's jealousy and dislike for his study partner which results in bloody violence. The set piece, the dinner scene, is expertly handled. Director Lone Scherfig places us right in the middle of the group as a participant one moment and then pulls his camera back to allow us to observe with some horror the behaviour of the so called ‘privileged class’.
Most of the actors involved are from the original play staged in London’s west end and everyone seems comfortable with their character. Irons plays Miles as a decent guy with a conscience caught up in events that are essentially alien to him, whereas Claflin totally fits in to the spirit of the group. His is undoubtedly the standout performance.
The play was undoubtedly very enjoyable and yet any scepticism about what the film could bring to make the material seem fresh proves unwarranted. In fact the story has actually been pulled in to sharper focus giving more context and understanding of the characters motivations and their subsequent actions.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

pijgogo

Jul 27, 2020

The Riot Club = Angry Privileged Club. The film portrays such realistic behavioral elements, so much so that it is truly unsettling to watch when it escalates. The real day modern Oxford may not be this way, but it certainly exists elsewhere. This movie is good as a real life horror filmThe Riot Club = Angry Privileged Club. The film portrays such realistic behavioral elements, so much so that it is truly unsettling to watch when it escalates. The real day modern Oxford may not be this way, but it certainly exists elsewhere. This movie is good as a real life horror film that reminds us of many of the horrific things that are deliberately propagated with and through accumulated wealth, legacy, and white privilege.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

oDjento

Jul 5, 2015

This film offers up some interesting character studies on the effects of money and social class and how detrimentally they can affect the people around them, due to a sense of deluded authority. It's kind of a more extreme look on how upper class people can treat middle class etc,This film offers up some interesting character studies on the effects of money and social class and how detrimentally they can affect the people around them, due to a sense of deluded authority. It's kind of a more extreme look on how upper class people can treat middle class etc, exaggerated for thematic effect but with visible similarities. The performances are really good and the subject matter would've been an interesting one to explore, but they don't develop it enough and just more make a film about rich boys being horrible to others due to their wealthy position. It becomes a slightly unlikable watch as you go further into it, but the premise and acting should be noted as its pros. Not a must see but one worth picking up at a reduced price.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

JLuis_001

Sep 6, 2017

The Riot Club is not an excellent movie or spectacular for that matter, but it is well made and its story is well managed, therefore it is more comforting than it would seem at first.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

WJS

Jan 22, 2016

This film is like watching a bunch of Abercrombie and Fitch models sitting around being a goup of prats (look it up as it sort of means douche). This is a movie for the very, very British. The young cast does a good job and look fantastic, but really, it's a bit of a bore.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

IGarden

May 13, 2015

The effort in the 20 seconds I just spent on thinking of how to rate this film seems substantially more than the producer and director spent on honestly caring if this turned out to be a good film or not. I generously give it a 3 only because of Amber Anderson's attractive qualities and theThe effort in the 20 seconds I just spent on thinking of how to rate this film seems substantially more than the producer and director spent on honestly caring if this turned out to be a good film or not. I generously give it a 3 only because of Amber Anderson's attractive qualities and the one bit of intelligence the casting crew made on attaining her services.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

lucysive

Jul 7, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This was undoubtedly the WORST film I have ever seen. I have a relatively high threshold when it comes to film violence but this film was nauseatingly violent. It functions as no more than a tacky, cheap and unoriginal commentary on British upper class elitism. The film, for the first three-quarters is boring, ultimately glorifying hedonism, sexism and racism. Then the most violent, poorly crafted scene confronts you. The violence in this almost ritualistic fight scene is atrocious. Above all, the scene is misplaced and jolting. I found myself unable to complete the scene, skipping over it for the most part. Then you are slammed with some atrocious vow of mate-ship, followed by further glorification of notions that the rich are superior to the poor. I gave this movie one-star because for the first ten minutes I enjoyed gawking at the British talent. However, this does not in any way improve the film. I cannot find the words to fully express my disdain towards this film. Do not watch this film! The violence is borderline assaulting and the plotline is incredibly shallow and dry.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

SEE ALL 9 REVIEWS