Trespass Against Us (2016)

What Trespass Against Us has going for it is its amazing leads. Its story of a low rent crime family ends up being fairly pedestrian but it is saved by the opportunity to watch two amazing actors do what they do. Brendan Gleeson and Michael Fassbender are always good and here they are as good as always. They not only craft fascinating characters individually but together they create a relationship which is intensely complex. It's a bit of a masterclass in acting.

The story isn't bad. A second generation criminal struggles to get himself and his family out from under the influence of his dad who does what he can to keep them intertwined in his community of poor thieves. They live in a circle of trailers in the countryside with a gaggle of other crooks. Fassbender tries to dig himself, his wife, and their kids out of the hole his father has created for them to predictably disappointing results. The film actually does a good job of showing just how difficult it can be to climb out of your station in life when everything is stacked to keep you there. It just felt that Smith's film doesn't take us anywhere we're not expecting to go. In some ways it is like we have seen this film before.

But it is the combo of Gleeson and Fassbender who really make this worth seeing.  There are a few set pieces (an encounter with some paint and another member of the clan, a day when the children go missing) which truly come to life due to the actors giving their A game. Trespass Against Us works even if it is a bit forgettable, as it's leads certainly are not.

Trespass Against Us
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Adam Smith
Writer: Alastair Siddons