Imperium Review

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Instead of drifting into a spate of formulaic rom-coms or taking refuge in a generic, blockbuster franchise, Daniel Radcliffe has embraced a wide variety of low-budget post-Potter projects and roles which have chiselled his acting chops and gone some way to shaking those boy wizard connotations. After bamboozling fans and critics by going starkers on stage in Equus, Radcliffe went on to play Igor to James McAvoy’s Victor Frankenstein, became a devil for Alexandre Aja in Horns and is even a farting corpse for Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert in the upcoming Swiss Army Man. For his latest, Radcliffe shimmies rigidly into the role of a government terror-cell operative, assigned to infiltrate a group of white supremacists at the request of his boss Angela Zamparo (Toni Collette). In doing so, Radcliffe delivers his best post-Potter performance and singles himself out as a contender for more serious roles.

Nate dons neo-Nazi attire, makes contact with key figures then sets out to track down missing explosives and subsequently foil a terrorist plot. Some of the story is stock-scripted stuff, stiffly translated to serve the drama well but, at times, it feels a little perfunctory. Debut director Daniel Ragussis conveys unease via knife sharp visuals and dark, alluring tones and settings, along with ratty, racist characters and striking performances to augment suspense, which throbs beneath the surface like brutal indigestion. The suspense isn’t splattered lackadaisically across the screen like CGI vomit or smeared throughout set-pieces but remains self-contained, almost in the manner of a simmering subtext. Will Bates’ profound, foreboding score punches dread throughout while unique sound design stokes tension alongside Ragussis’ direction and Radcliffe’s tight performance.

A couple of key suspense sequences stand out, including one which sees Nate wear the wrong kind of jeans to a neo-Nazi meeting which swiftly turns into an interrogation. There is little room for humour amongst the racist camaraderie but a couple of awkward chuckles were stifled in the screening room at the sight of swastikas on cupcakes being served at a child’s birthday party. Nate then goes on to gorge on whisky and Nazi literature, shaves his head and gets tattooed to transform into an abhorrent but well-informed racist scumbag. Haunting KKK/Nazi montage sequences unfurl like nightmares in the backdrop of both the scenery and the protagonist’s subconscious, as he is forced to fraternise with the far right, establish a repartee with the National Director of the Aryan alliance and grow within the clan. Taut action sequences take the form of violent punch-ups in a street parade, car park shoot outs and an ending in an enclosed, single-set location that feels slightly slapdash and shoehorned but rounds things off nicely.

Despite a formulaic structure, Imperium is a strong and startling debut and provides a welcome turn from Radcliffe, suggesting the young actor is, in retrospect, doing the right thing by diversifying, regardless of how the end results turn out. His place and purpose outside the Potter universe appears to be spectacularly out of sync with both studio and audience expectations but he is, as an actor, all the more better for it, and Imperium, in many ways, is Radcliffe’s ultimate pay-off. A solid, enthralling, mesmeric, tightly woven and tension loaded thriller festooned by strong direction and excellent acting, which makes for a dark and terrifying drama. Let’s hope writer/director Daniel Ragussis goes on to greater things while Radcliffe finds more fantastic parts like this and continues to grow as an actor in such a rich, bewildering manner.

REVIEW OVERVIEW
Imperium
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Daniel Goodwin is a prevalent film writer for multiple websites including HeyUGuys, Scream Horror Magazine, Little White Lies, i-D and Dazed. After studying Film, Media and Cultural Studies at university and Creative Writing at the London School of Journalism, Daniel went on to work in TV production for Hat Trick Productions, So Television and The London Studios. He has also worked at the Home Office, in the private office of Hilary Benn MP and the Coroner's and Burials Department, as well as on the Movies on Pay TV market investigation for the Competition Commission.
imperium-reviewA solid, enthralling, mesmeric, tightly woven and tension loaded thriller festooned by strong direction and excellent acting, which makes for a dark and terrifying drama.