Tyrannosaur (film)
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''Tyrannosaur'' is a 2011 British
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
written and directed by
Paddy Considine Patrick George Considine (born 5 September 1973) is an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He frequently collaborates with filmmaker/director Shane Meadows. He has received two British Academy Film Awards, three Evening Standard Britis ...
and starring
Peter Mullan Peter Mullan (; born 2 November 1959) is a Scottish actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his role in Ken Loach's ''My Name Is Joe'' (1998), for which he won Best Actor Award at 1998 Cannes Film Festival, 2000's '' The Claim'' and all thr ...
,
Olivia Colman Sarah Caroline Sinclair ( Colman; born 30 January 1974), known professionally as Olivia Colman, is an English actress. Known for her comedic and dramatic roles in film and television, she has received various accolades, including an Academy A ...
,
Eddie Marsan Edward Maurice Charles Marsan (born 9 June 1968) is an English actor. He won the London Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' (2008). He has feature ...
,
Paul Popplewell Paul Popplewell (born 18 April 1977) is a British actor. He became a professional actor at 16, leaving college after gaining the lead role of Simon in the BBC television drama ''Criminal'', for which he won Best Actor at the Golden Chest Film Fe ...
and
Sally Carman Sally Carman-Duttine is an English actress. She is known for portraying the roles of Kelly Maguire in the Channel 4 comedy-drama series '' Shameless'' (2005–2013), and Abi Franklin in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2017–presen ...
.


Plot

In a drunken rage, unemployed widower Joseph kicks his dog Bluey to death, which he immediately regrets. After burying Bluey, he goes to the post office, where he causes a confrontation with several Pakistani employees and later attacks three men who were teasing him at his local pub. After fleeing the pub, he hides in a second-hand shop, where a compassionate employee, Hannah, offers to pray for him. Joseph later returns home and encounters his six-year-old neighbor Samuel, who is forced to wait outside his own house while his mother is inside with her abusive boyfriend. The next morning, Joseph wakes up and goes to Hannah's shop where she tends to his injuries. Despite her compassion, he begins to berate and insult her. She listens to him without commenting but her eyes fill with tears. Hannah returns home, drinks wine and falls asleep. When her husband James arrives and is unable to awaken her, he urinates on her. After Hannah arrives at work the next morning, Joseph comes by to apologize for his behavior the previous day, and they go for a drink. That night, James tells Hannah that someone saw her earlier that day with another man, which she denies. When Hannah comes to work the following morning with a black eye, she tells Joseph that she fell in the bath. Later on, in the back room, she drinks from a bottle of vodka. Joseph later returns to the shop once again to ask Hannah to join him to pray for his best friend Jack, who is dying of cancer. Jack dies a few days later and Joseph returns to get a suit for his funeral. James enters and finds Hannah tying Joseph's tie as he tries on a suit and quietly threatens her. Joseph hears enough of this to realize that James was the cause of Hannah's black eye. She continues to claim that she simply fell in the tub but she is visibly upset. She asks Joseph to immediately leave the store. After work, Hannah is afraid to go home for fear of what her husband will do to her. With nowhere else to go, she finds a bar and drinks alone. Upon discovering her location, James comes to pick her up which leads to a violent altercation back at home, in which James brutally rapes Hannah at knifepoint until she blacks out. The next day, Hannah leaves home, finds Joseph and tells him she is leaving James, asking to stay with him because she has nowhere else to go. He hesitatingly agrees, and in the course of her settling in, Joseph reveals that his heavy-set wife has been dead for 5 years due to complications from her
diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...
. He also tells Hannah that he regrets using the nickname "
Tyrannosaur Tyrannosauroidea (meaning 'tyrant lizard forms') is a superfamily (or clade) of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs that includes the family Tyrannosauridae as well as more basal relatives. Tyrannosauroids lived on the Laurasian supercontinent ...
" for his wife. He used it because it reminded Joseph of the scene in the film ''
Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later also referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton and centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when ...
'' where the ''
Tyrannosaurus rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' live ...
'' could be heard stomping after the children in the film, much like how his wife sounded when she was walking up the stairs of their house. At the time, he'd thought it was funny but he expresses guilt for the way he treated her. After a few days, Joseph tells her that she is not safe with him and suggests she leave. Joseph escorts Hannah back to her house to retrieve some personal items, but Hannah ends up running away, saying she is not ready to confront her husband. Later that day, after attending the wake of an old friend, Joseph decides to confront James. He takes Hannah's keys and goes to her house where he finds James's corpse propped up against the closet door. Shocked, he returns home and confronts Hannah, saying that he knows she killed her husband. At first she is confused, but then breaks down and reveals that James had been brutally abusing her for a long time. A year later, it is revealed that Hannah is in prison. Joseph tells her in a letter that Samuel was mauled by his mother's boyfriend's dog. In retaliation, Joseph beheaded the dog with a machete. He also admits that he had always admired her from afar, as she was the only person in town to smile at him and show him kindness, which is why he had approached her in the first place. Despite everything, they both appear hopeful for a better future.


Cast

*
Peter Mullan Peter Mullan (; born 2 November 1959) is a Scottish actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his role in Ken Loach's ''My Name Is Joe'' (1998), for which he won Best Actor Award at 1998 Cannes Film Festival, 2000's '' The Claim'' and all thr ...
as Joseph *
Olivia Colman Sarah Caroline Sinclair ( Colman; born 30 January 1974), known professionally as Olivia Colman, is an English actress. Known for her comedic and dramatic roles in film and television, she has received various accolades, including an Academy A ...
as Hannah *
Eddie Marsan Edward Maurice Charles Marsan (born 9 June 1968) is an English actor. He won the London Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' (2008). He has feature ...
as James *
Paul Popplewell Paul Popplewell (born 18 April 1977) is a British actor. He became a professional actor at 16, leaving college after gaining the lead role of Simon in the BBC television drama ''Criminal'', for which he won Best Actor at the Golden Chest Film Fe ...
as Bod *
Samuel Bottomley Samuel Bottomley (born 14 June 2001) is an English actor. He began acting at the age of nine, when he made his professional debut in the 2011 film ''Tyrannosaur''. After portraying Brandon Kelleher on the CBBC series ''Rocket's Island'', Bottoml ...
as Samuel *
Sian Breckin Sian Breckin (born 1982) is a British film, television and theatre actress. '' Donkey Punch'' directed by Olly Blackburn was Breckin's feature film debut; she starred alongside Jaime Winstone, Nichola Burley, Tom Burke and Julian Morris. Subs ...
as Samuel's Mum *
Ned Dennehy Ned Dennehy (born 8 December 1965) is an Irish actor who has appeared in multiple films and television programmes. He is best known for his role as Mider in ''The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog''. He also appeared in ''Blitz'', ''Harry Potter and t ...
as Tommy *
Sally Carman Sally Carman-Duttine is an English actress. She is known for portraying the roles of Kelly Maguire in the Channel 4 comedy-drama series '' Shameless'' (2005–2013), and Abi Franklin in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2017–presen ...
as Marie *
Julia Mallam Julia Mallam (born 1 August 1982) is an English actress. She is best known for the roles of Dawn Woods in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' and Tracy Trickster in the CITV series ''Captain Mack''. Career Mallam made her professional acting ...
as Drunk Woman *Andrew Milburn as Guy in Pub *Natalia Carta as Drunk Woman's friend


Production

''Tyrannosaur'' is an expansion of ''
Dog Altogether ''Dog Altogether'' is a short film written and directed by Paddy Considine. The term "Dog Altogether" comes from an Irish expression that Considine's father used to use when situations got really bad. It was filmed on 22 January 2007 in Glasgow ...
'', a short film for
Warp Films Warp Films is an independent film and television production company based in Sheffield & London, UK. History 2001 – 2012 Warp Films was established by Warp Records founding partners Rob Mitchell and Steve Beckett. It was initially created with ...
that Considine wrote and directed, which won the Best Short Film BAFTA and BIFA awards as well as the Silver Lion award at Venice in 2007. The film received a grant of £206,540 from the National Lottery fund through the UK Film Council. The remainder of the film's budget came from
Warp X Warp X is a British film production company, sister to Warp Films based in Sheffield, UK with further offices in Nottingham and London. The company was founded in 2005 and produces feature films. Company Warp X was founded in 2005 and produces f ...
, Inflammable Films,
Film4 Film4 is a British free-to-air television network owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, devoted to broadcasting films. While its standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat platforms, it ...
,
Screen Yorkshire Following a review of the film infrastructure in England during 2000, the UK Film Council set up nine Regional Screen Agencies, one in each of the regions of England, to deliver support for film-making, exhibition and related media activities. Th ...
, EM Media and
Optimum Releasing StudioCanal Limited, operating as StudioCanal (formerly Optimum Releasing), is the official branch of StudioCanal in the British Isles. The company releases many films, including foreign, anime (mostly Studio Ghibli), independent, art, British, ...
(
StudioCanal StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., Canal+ Production, and Canal+ Image and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film production and distribution company that owns ...
). It depicts an environment similar to what Considine witnessed growing up on a
council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...
in the
Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...
, although the film is in no way autobiographical. The film's title is a metaphor, the meaning of which is revealed in the film. The film is set in an unspecified town in the North of England, although much of it was shot on location in residential areas of
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
and
Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
, including Seacroft, Cross Gates, Eccup, Harehills and Alwoodley, and the accents of many of the main characters are drawn from a wide geographical area. The film makes reference to the fictional Manners Estate as an area in the town where the more wealthy inhabitants reside. Manners Estate is the name of the council estate in the parish of Winshill near
Burton-on-Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. Th ...
where Paddy Considine grew up. Many of the extras used in the film were local residents, including local busker Chris Wheat who was given a part after singing to the cast and crew on set. He performs his own original song in the film. Workers from the local St Vincent's Charity Shop used in the film were also given small parts. Several other small roles were given to members of the crew, including the film's producer Diarmid Scrimshaw, the film's make-up designer Nadia Stacey, and the production coordinator Samantha Milnes who was featured in a photo as Joseph's late wife. The film is dedicated to Considine's late mother, Pauline Considine. The end credits gives special thanks to both James Marsh and
Gary Oldman Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three British Academy Fi ...
.


Soundtrack

#"Wand'rin' Star" –
Nick Hemming Nicholas Hemming (born 7 April 1973) is an English musician and guitarist. He was formerly of the early 1990s indie band She Talks to Angels, is a key musician in the Willkommen Collective, and is currently the lead singer for The Leisure Soc ...
(of
The Leisure Society The Leisure Society are an English rock band formed by Nick Hemming and Christian Hardy of Burton upon Trent. History Hemming was formerly of early 1990s indie band She Talks to Angels, which included actor Paddy Considine, and film director S ...
),
cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...
of
Lee Marvin Lee Marvin (born Lamont Waltman Marvin Jr.; February 19, 1924August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and premature white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. Alth ...
's 1969
hit song A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...
from the western musical film '' Paint Your Wagon'' #"This Gun Loves you Back" – Chris Baldwin (written By Paddy Considine & Chris Baldwin) #"Truth or Glory" – JJ All Stars #"Saturday Night" – JJ All Stars #"Psycho Mash" – JJ All Stars #"Hi Jack" – Chris Wheat #"Sing All Our Cares Away" –
Damien Dempsey Damien Dempsey (born 9 June 1975) is an Irish singer and songwriter who mixes traditional Irish folk contemporary lyrics that deliver social and political commentaries on Irish society. Damien sings in his native, working class accent in the Eng ...
#"We Were Wasted" –
The Leisure Society The Leisure Society are an English rock band formed by Nick Hemming and Christian Hardy of Burton upon Trent. History Hemming was formerly of early 1990s indie band She Talks to Angels, which included actor Paddy Considine, and film director S ...
Original music composed by Chris Baldwin & Dan Baker


Reception


Box office

The film grossed £396,930, below its £750,000 production budget.


Critical response

''Tyrannosaur'' received positive reviews. On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, it holds an approval rating of 83%, based on 86 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The critical consensus states: "''Tyrannosaur'' is a brutal, frank, and ultimately rewarding story of violent men seeking far-off redemption." The film also has a score of 65 out of 100 based on 18 critics on
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, indicating "Generally favourable reviews". Stuart McGurk of '' GQ'' magazine called ''Tyrannosaur'' "The best British film of the year", whilst ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' said it was "Riveting, uncompromising, brilliant" and gave it 4/5 stars, as did ''
Total Film ''Total Film'' is a British film magazine published 13 times a year (published monthly and a summer issue is added every year since issue 91, 2004, which is published between July and August issue) by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched i ...
'', ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', ''
Sunday Mirror The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marke ...
'', and ''
Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...
''. The ''
Daily Star Sunday The ''Daily Star Sunday'' is a weekly tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom. It was launched as a sister title to the ''Daily Star (United Kingdom), Daily Star'' on 15 September 2002. The ''Daily Star Sunday'' is published by Expres ...
'' and
LoveFilm LoveFilm was a United Kingdom–based provider of DVD-by-mail and streaming video on demand in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany. Acquired by Amazon.com in 2011, the service had reached 2 million subscribers. It claimed ...
gave the film 5/5 stars and ''
The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...
'' dubbed it "One of the most powerful films of 2011." The American film critic and blogger Jeffrey Wells was so taken by ''Tyrannosaur'' after seeing it at the
Los Angeles Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episod ...
that he started 'Hollywood Elsewhere's Tyrannosaur fundraising campaign' with the idea of raising $2,000 to cover the rental of a screening room so that the film could be shown in Hollywood with the hope of gaining recognition. Wells claimed this was the first screening financed by a critic.
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, calling
Peter Mullan Peter Mullan (; born 2 November 1959) is a Scottish actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his role in Ken Loach's ''My Name Is Joe'' (1998), for which he won Best Actor Award at 1998 Cannes Film Festival, 2000's '' The Claim'' and all thr ...
's performance muscular and unrelenting. He also remarked: "This isn't the kind of movie that even has hope enough to contain a message. There is no message, only the reality of these wounded personalities."
Mark Kermode Mark James Patrick Kermode (, ; ; born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter and podcaster. He is the chief film critic for ''The Observer'', contributes to the magazine ''Sight & Sound'', prese ...
of
BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...
, hailed the film as one of the 11 Best Films of 2011. Kermode went on to award Olivia Colman Best Actress in his own Annual Kermode Awards. She tied with
Tilda Swinton Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...
for '' We Need to Talk About Kevin''. By 18 December 2011, the film had won 21 awards from 28 nominations worldwide. When the BAFTA Award nominations were announced on 17 January 2012, the omission of Olivia Colman in the Best Actress category led to global trending of both Olivia Colman and ''Tyrannosaur'' on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
.


Accolades


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tyrannosaur 2011 films 2011 crime drama films British crime drama films Films directed by Paddy Considine Films about domestic violence British rape and revenge films Films set in 2010 Films set in England Screen Gems films Film4 Productions films Features based on short films 2011 directorial debut films 2010s English-language films 2010s British films