X: Night of Vengeance
| X: Night of Vengeance | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical film poster | |
| Directed by | Jon Hewitt |
| Produced by |
Lizzette Atkins Jon Hewitt |
| Written by |
Belinda McClory Jon Hewitt |
| Starring |
Viva Bianca Hanna Mangan-Lawrence Peter Docker |
| Music by |
David Franzke Byron Joel Scullin |
| Cinematography | Mark Pugh |
| Edited by | Cindy Clarkson |
Production company |
Circe Films Rough Beast |
| Distributed by |
Celluloid Dreams IFC Films |
Release dates | |
Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
X: Night of Vengeance is a 2011 Australian erotic thriller[2] directed by Jon Hewitt and starring Viva Bianca and Hanna Mangan-Lawrence as a pair of sex workers who witness a cop murder a drug dealer, then must evade the killer while he chases them through Sydney, Australia.
Plot
Holly (Viva Bianca) is on her last night working as a high-class call girl before departing with one of her clients to Paris. She discovers Shay (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence), a runaway on her first night in Sydney, recruiting her for a sexual encounter. In the client's hotel room they witness him being killed by Bennett (Stephen Phillips), a cop, following a drug-deal. The girls flee the hotel, chased by the murderer through King's Cross, Sydney's red-light district.
Cast
- Viva Bianca as Holly, an experienced call-girl
- Hanna Mangan-Lawrence as Shay, a runaway who turns to prostitution for money
- Peter Docker as Ligurian, Holly's boyfriend and crooked cop
- Stephen Phillips as Bennett, another crooked cop
Production
X was filmed in and around Kings Cross, New South Wales.[3]
Release
It premiered at the 60th Melbourne International Film Festival in 2011.[1] The film was sold overseas before it premiered in Australia, which director Hewitt attributed to the difficulty that Australian films have competing against American films domestically.[4]
Reception
Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports a 69% approval rating based on 16 reviews and a rating average of 5.3 out of 10.[5] Glenn Dunks on Oyna Magazine gave it a B+, stating that the movie "won't be for everyone, but I found myself enjoying every second of its slick, bordering on camp, nature. It's one of the most alive and confident genre titles to come out of this country in quite some time",[6] while Xan Brooks of The Guardian gave it a 2/5 rating and said, "Hewitt's pungent early scenes of Oz's underbelly have a certain crystal-meth intensity, but the buzz can't last, and the film starts to wilt."[7]
Accolades
Cindy Clarkson was nominated for Best Editing at the 2nd AACTA Awards.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Savage, Sophia (4 August 2011). "Highlights at Final Week of Melbourne Int'l Film Fest: "Attenberg," "Grey Matter," "Butt Naked"". Indiewire. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
- ↑ "X - Night of Vengeance (18)". The Daily Mirror. 15 January 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
- ↑ Molitorisz, Sacha (20 November 2011). "Kings among men". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
- ↑ Bartlett, Myke (18 July 2011). "X marks the spot". The Weekly Review. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
- ↑ "X: Night of Vengeance (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
- ↑ Dunks, Glenn (24 November 2011). "X". Onya Magazine. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
- ↑ Brooks, Xan (19 January 2012). "X: Night of Vengeance – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 May 2014.