"Sometimes life can push you over the edge..."

City Rats is Face Films first feature film. Its a witty, funny, ensemble piece about a group of dysfunctional Londoners who are all in need of closure or acceptance.

It stars Danny Dyer, Tamer Hassan, Susan Lynch, Myanna Buring, James Lance, Ray Panthaki and Kenny Doughty.

Tamer and Danny are playing characters, which differ enormously from their usual typecasting! It is also their first film together since The Business. City Rats was written by Simon Fantuazzo and was directed by Steve M. Kelly. It was produced by our very own William Borthwick and co-produced by Dean Fisher from Scanner-Rhodes Productions. The Director of Photography was Adam Levins, Music by Julia Johnson and Mark Maclaine and edited by the talented Mr King.

Running Time: 96 mins @ 25fps [100 mins @ 24fps]
Location: London, United Kingdom
Shooting Format: Film [Super 16mm]
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Edited with: Final Cut Pro
Online: HDCAM SR 4:4:4

Slamdance Official review - Drea Clark, Executive Director/Chair of Feature Narrative Programming

[WARNING - Contains Spoilers! Don't read if you don't want to know!]

"Beneath the gritty London skyline, eight haunted people meet and fall apart while trying to find redemption in one another. Jim is throwing watermelons from his office roof, testing the effect for a possible suicide. During one of his experiments he sees Sammy on an adjacent rooftop, about to jump herself. Dean is an artist unable to fulfill the potential of his creativity. He needs a muse - and who better than Gina, the experimental prostitute who lives next door. Olly is lost in a world of sexual confusion; forced to look after his deaf-mute brother Chris for the day, Olly discovers that not only does Chris have gay feelings too, but is more comfortable with them than he is. But no one has a darker story than Pete, who is being stalked by Carol, a woman looking for her son – a man Pete knew from his violent drug days. They begin a treacherous journey to find an almost forgotten suitcase. Connections are made or missed and longed-for families brought together for a moment of hope, in this beautifully shot, sumptuously art designed and poignantly introspective story.

So very pretty and so very crushing and so very smart and so very moving. City Rats manages to feel period and contemporary, introspective and full of the grand gesture. Rich with poetic visuals and aching performances that allow for those poignant moments between characters; I kept referencing a similarity to Dickens due to the grit and emotional tenacity, but this film embraces an ensemble narrative in a manner all its own, with each character and each story presented in a style both delicate and complex."