Twist
2021 · United Kingdom · 88 min
- Director
- Martin Owen
- Producer
- Noel Clarke, Jason Maza, Ben Grass
- Based on
- Oliver Twist
What the critics say
9 % Rotten Tomatoes positive reviewsCast
What it is about
After his mother dies, Oliver, a young man who knows almost no one, is left alone in London. He teaches himself free running and earns the nickname Twist while the police chase him over illegal graffiti. He ends up with a small gang of young people who hide out near the Truman Brewery, led by Fagin, a man with his own reasons for planning a heist against an art dealer. The film mixes chases, robberies and a romance in the style of an urban thriller.
How it was made
The project was announced in October 2019 as a modern take on Charles Dickens' novel, based on Tom Grass's 2014 novel. Martin Owen directed, and Noel Clarke and Jason Maza produced, both also appearing in the cast. Raff Law plays Oliver, Michael Caine plays Fagin, and Lena Headey and Rita Ora take on female versions of Sikes and the Artful Dodger. Digital makeup and clean-up work was handled by the UK company Koala FX.
Reception and legacy
The film premiered on Sky Cinema on 29 January 2021, after an originally planned 2020 release was postponed. Critics responded very negatively, and it holds a 9 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes from 34 reviews. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave it two stars out of five, and Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent gave it one. Several reviewers compared it unfavourably to the work of Guy Ritchie.
Stills
Trivia
Original song
Rita Ora wrote a song for the film titled Flame.
Music in the trailer
The trailer used Wanderlust, an unreleased song from The Vaccines' fifth album, Back in Love City.
Original Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.