User reviews

I've had the pleasure to see this movie in a semi-private screening with the crew present. Part of the high rating (by my standards) is the fact that the flick's as self-made as self-made gets, being produced and acted by basically the same guys (which is something I often dig).

The movie throws the viewer directly into its documentary-styled collage of at first glance seemingly random scenes featuring two best friends during their high school time. The first half hour develops a pull that draws you right in. While "Two best friends are filming a comedy about getting revenge on the bullies at their high school. One of them isn't joking." is probably as concise as it gets to describe the plot, it also means that a somewhat experienced audience might feel a bit underwhelmed, since what started off fresh will become rather foreseeable and and clichéd in the second half. I was relieved that the ending's at least consequent, finishing the movie in a satisfying way nonetheless.

I like the concept of the movie and mostly like the execution, and I like being able to say that it's a film worthy of watching with high schoolers, since it provides a lot of stuff to discuss about things that are important to know and realize for each and everyone out there.

The Dirties follows these kids who are making a short film about two kids going into their school and shooting all of the bullies. That's as much as I can say without it flagging me for spoilers. I really love this story. It follows a topic that isn't discussed from this point of view. We always hear about bullying from a third person perspective, but The Dirties puts us right in the middle of it. Also to anyone who loves film and wants to get into the industry, you (including me) will find that these characters are extremely relatable which ends up being really scary and makes the movie memorable.

The acting is just as if the kids were going through everyday life. I wouldn't say it was amazing acting, but I definitely felt like the people were their characters. They were probably just playing themselves, so it was pretty interesting.

The camera work is in the found footage style, but not in the way that it's annoying, it just feels like you are the camera man documenting them making their short film.

The soundtrack has some good songs in it, mostly indie music.

The Dirties is an experience. It was fun, relatable, and memorable. The movie is chalk filled with movie references for cinephiles and comedy that makes you laugh. It is a must see just for the topic that it pertains and how it approaches it.

Matt and Owen are best friends at the same high school. They are sort of geeky and as such are continually being picked on and bullied by their class mates - who are obviously a bunch of cowards as all bullies are. They are doing a class project in which they have to make a film. This is right up their street as they are both mad movie buffs. So they decide to make a film about how they take revenge on the bullies - as they call them 'the dirties' - and use as many filmic references as possible.

This all seems well and good, only one of them is slightly more serious than the other - cue the mayhem.

Well this is a rather well made indie and you can tell a lot of heart and soul has gone into the production. There are some really good lines and some well observed pieces too especially regarding relationships and movie making. The acting is all surprisingly good too. The only issue may be the way some of the action pans out but that will be a matter of taste for the viewer. All in all they pack an awful lot into the 80 minute run time. I would rate as 7/10 as I always appreciate a good and original indie production.

A great example of low budget indie filmmaking that succeeds without ever truly taking off, the Kevin Smith supported The Dirties is a sufficient comedy, a love letter to cinema's influence and also a sometimes scarily accurate portrayal on alienation and bullying that can sometimes turn deadly.

Written and directed by Matt Johnson and starring Johnson and Owen Williams, The Dirties was clearly a labour of love for the two budding filmmakers and the rawness of their film that moonlights as a real documentary, does often make it feel legitimately like a true life doco even if there's little reason for the cameras to be around at certain stages in the narrative.

Johnson and Williams share a great on screen chemistry together and it's obvious their real life affiliation as friends has carried over to The Dirties and their love for film shines through in many of the films scenes. From classics through to modern contemporary pieces of entertainment spotting the many varied references that are spread throughout the film would be quite the job and it's interesting to contemplate the influence films have on certain people in certain situations and Johnson's character of Matt's increasingly unstable mind is a product of not only films but years of torment at the hands of school yard bullies.

The dealings of The Dirties, with its titular group of nasties, is both its blessing and its curse. There's an important message here of tolerance and acceptance but never once throughout this tale are you wondering where things are going to end up and for a film that has a particularly strong opening act the last stanza (and in particular last scene) of the film's final half hour or so feels a tad underwhelming and certain scenarios feel harder to take such as the "cool" kids sudden acceptance of William's awkward Owen or the fact no one cares to stop Matt from becoming increasingly unhinged.

The Dirties is a small film with a big message and while emotionally it doesn't exactly hit a home run, the film turns a fairly generic plot line into something unique and wholly watchable and it will be a great joy as movie fans to see where Johnson and William's next project might take them.

3 creepy cousins out of 5

Not another school shooting film because most of the film you have no idea how this one will end. I loved the concept of how the two main characters were ones being filmed and answering the questions. It was nothing like watching one of those films that the main characters are the ones holding the camera and filming each other. This film felt like it had a third wall or third person that we never see. This young director has a lot of talent.

The Dirties premiered in Park City Utah this year, and it was clear from the beginning that it was one of the best films at either Sundance or Slamdance.

This film is quite possibly the most real and engaging exploration of what it means to be bullied and what it can drive people to. One of the most relevant films you'll see this year, if you can manage to see it.

I've rarely seen a movie that can take you to such a dark place, completely serious and genuine, but still make you smile during those bleak moments. And at the end of the day, it's that reaction of simultaneous investment and revulsion that makes the film worth watching.

It's both hilarious and horrible, thought-provoking and impossibly risky.

When this film gets distribution, see it.

I would have given this an 8 or 9 but felt like the ending was a disappointment. They did a good job of leading up to it but it just ended too quickly. Things are left unanswered.

I started watching this movie, thinking it was going to have a lot more depth and emotion than it did. Matthew Johnson just seemed to portray a very hyper-doesn't-stop-talking and can't be still teen. Owen Johnson at least showed a more realistic traumatized teen. You could actually see more emotion in his character, especially when the bullies were attacking him...he acted like any other bullied kid would, looked down to the floor (like he just wanted the ground to open up and swallow him so he wouldn't have to bare the embarrassment or humiliation of being bullied...pretty much like most kids would act), didn't wanna be touched/fussed over when he'd been hit by a rock. Honestly, if it wasn't for sheer curiosity and Owen Williams...I would not have watched this movie to the end, as it is slow and boring in a lot of the parts and considering what the movie is supposed to be about....they don't seem to talk to each other or anyone for that matter about their actual feelings toward themselves being the target of bullies. They might ask others what their opinions of bullying are, but they never actually talk about it themselves...their main goal is goofing around. And so you can never get deep into the subject. Which is a shame, as I think if hit from a different angle and showed way more emotion than it actually did...this could have really hit home

I watched this film on the recommendation of my 16 year old son. I love the reality of it. I work in a high school and this director (who is also the star of the film) hits the high school vibe spot-on! All of the actors playing students look and act like teenagers (unlike most Hollywood films). The light tone turns dark soon enough with an unexpected twist. This is an extremely low budget film done right. Kudos to the bicycle scene filmed playing Lissie's Kid Cudi cover of Pursuit of Happiness. You should expect to see more films directed by Matt Johnson in the years to come. Overall this little gem is pretty impressive!

A very solid film from Kevin Smith's company. It follows two students who are friends and interested in movie making and are bullied constantly in school. The atmosphere of the school and the boy's life felt very realistic and true. We see the constant harassment the two friends go through and how each of them deals with it. One of them just wants to fit in and catch the eye of a girl he likes, while the other can't bring himself to exist in reality without making everything out to be a movie set. Eventually we begin to see that Matt (the film buff) doesn't know how to relate to his friend Owen anymore because of his increasingly detached and erratic behavior. The film culminates in a very real and scary climax in which Owen doesn't even recognize his friend anymore. This very much could have been a true story. Although I do think that the ending could have fleshed-out more of Matt's decent into psychosis. Overall though, a very powerful film.

Wow. This was an amazing film. I have a lot to say about it but I will keep my thoughts concise. The topic of school shootings is obviously a sensitive one, given that it happens too often these days, but I think it's an interesting subject. There's obviously a lot to explore in regards to the people who do it, and this film has an interesting take on it.

To start off, it's kind of a different film from other school shooting films like Zero Day or Elephant that have a serious and somber tone throughout. This movies starts off quite funny. I laughed quite a lot. It has kind of a "nerdy high school kids movie" kind of feeling. It also includes lots of references to films, since the main characters are film fans themselves, allowing for captivating scenes such as the final credit sequence that gives nods to other films in a way I won't spoil.

The characters are displayed in a quite realistic way. The humour in the beginning makes you bond with them and kind of like them, so when things start to get serious, you care what happens. They aren't shown in a way that seems stereotypical, they just seem like real guys you would know, and maybe even be friends with. That makes it all the more disturbing. As someone who graduated high school last year (at the time of this review), I can relate to the setting of high school, and while I wasn't bullied, nor did I witness bullying on this level, I can still understand how it would happen. The interactions between characters feel like real high school interactions. There are some pretty good performances here.

The ending may not be everyones cup of tea, but I think it solidifies the theme of friendship throughout the film. The whole buildup at the end made the tension feel unbearable. I won't spoil that, but I could feel my heart beating and I felt actually nervous about what was going to happen, and when a film can do that, I give is massive credit. I highly recommend this film. (Bonus points cause I think it's Canadian)

Director Kevin Smith, who released The Dirties through his self-proclaimed "movie club," has called the film "the most important movie you will see all year" and he isn't wrong. The Dirties is a harrowing look at a subject no one wants to explore and that is the school shooting. Here is a film that takes such a subject and subverts it to the point of being believable and so naturalistic it possesses a rare documentary-style. The fact that it will go largely unseen by the public is a crime.

The film stars Matt Johnson, who also serves as director, co-producer, and co-writer, as Matt along with Owen Williams as Owen, two senior film geeks in high school. They are making a film project about a lawless gang called "the dirties," which is also the name they give to the school bullies who humiliatingly beat them up and harass them whenever they get the chance. When their film project on the gang is gutted by their film teacher for its excessive use of violence and language, Matt suggests they come up with a film where they actually kill the bullies in their school. Like, for real. Owen believes Matt is joking but quietly consents to devising the mad plan for the "fun" of it.

Owen, however, comes to the realization that Matt isn't fooling around. He has resorted to taking pictures of the people that bully them, trace rooms and the bullies' schedules on the blueprints of the school he obtained at the town village, and talking openly about the potential of his carnage with Owen as if he's achieving personal enjoyment from it. Matt makes it clear he doesn't want to go after everyone in the school; just those who caused him and his friend untold misery by mocking them when they were nothing but harmless and obeying.

First-time director Johnson employs the popular film school tactic that will either captivate or alienate you upon its arrival and it's the shaky camera. The camera is obviously hand-held and held very loosely it is. Never does it restrict the environment, as it always seems to capture the right images at the right time. The effect only furthers the already naturalistic acting and dialog in the film. Much of the dialog, like many indies nowadays, was improvised and in a school setting focusing on two kids, one of whom is quietly out of control, this seems like the only method to achieve success through dialog.

It's also worth noting that Johnson's unsteady camera-hand always provides for an unsettling environment. It's hard to make a public school ominous, but with bullies and an unstable character in the forefront, along with directing that reserves as much as it shows, it's not too difficult. The film is so successful at being unsettling thanks to its camera-work that when the inevitable occurs it's almost not as frightening as what we've already indulged in. Then the last line is said that will ring in your head for days to come.

The Dirties works best thematically because it doesn't try to justify its characters, its antagonists, its events, or its cultural importance. It doesn't look to provide answers because there are no clear one. It doesn't look to embellish or sensationalize because it knows this kind of event occurs, unfortunately, very often. It doesn't become politically-partisan, blame mental illness, blame the quality of parenting, or blame news and media. It simply shows the depressing and shocking effects bullying can have on a soul.

A heartbreaking scene comes when Matt and Owen are talking about how they've been bullied for many years but still haven't really learned to cope with it. Matt states that one day, in middle school, he was putting quarters in a vending machine when someone made fun of his dated sweatpants. Matt remarks about how he walked away with fifty-cents credited on the machine, not even putting more money in or walking away with any food or drink. It was the first time he was bullied for being himself, and the pain and torment hasn't ceased since then.

Constantly I was reminded of Gus Van Sant's Elephant, a highly-impressionistic film that based itself off of the tragedy at Columbine High School. The film featured little dialog, pretty empty characters, and scenes that didn't blatantly say their purpose - all of which an intentional tactic on Van Sant's part. The film was harrowing in its simplicity and compelling in its suspense that something was about to happen that was going to affect hundreds of young people differently. The Dirties exercises in a more open fashion, but, thankfully, leaves a lot of questions unanswered. At only eighty-minutes, it had the power and impact on me I don't usually get from films two hours or longer.

NOTE: The Dirties is now available on various video-on-demand outlets and will receive a DVD release later this year.

Starring: Matt Johnson and Owen Williams. Directed by: Matt Johnson.

This showed up on Shudder so I checked IMDB and it said 6.9. Wow. Must be decent. NOPE. I was waiting for the movie to "start" but it never really did. I cringed through as many scenes as I could. I could not even get through this entire film. Clearly the rating is inflated by fake reviews. This one is a real stinker

The Dirties has been garnering rave reviews and collecting awards at multiple film festivals and for good reason. It's a powerful, engaging and important film. Two high school best friends, Matt and Owen, decide to make a movie project for class where they pretend to murder the group of boys who routinely harass them. Matt is played by Matthew Johnson who also wrote and directed the film. It was filmed at a real high school with actual students so the line between reality and fiction is significantly blurred. Matt is an outsider but one that viewers can relate to, with his quips and love for movies. This makes it all the more disturbing when he begins to take the murder plot too seriously and takes action that will change his life, as well as the lives of all those around him, forever. This movie is not just about a school shooting. It's about consequences, it's about friendship, it's about loneliness. It's definitely a must see.

Interesting movie. I love the character development and seeing how the characters evolved over the movie. Nice hidden gem. Definitely recommend.

Someone should tell the writers that every sentence uttered matters--you start the movie off with an ADD kid spouting nonsense to other kids, with NO clear relation to the story line.

Honestly, this a teenage movie written by teens and played by teens and feels like an Amateur effort from Talent-less teens.

The Dirties is an independent film that was released in 2013. It's the debut feature for Matt Johnson, who directed, co-wrote, and stared in the film. It's one of the better indie films that I've seen and is certainly worth your time.

Matt and Owen are two friends who are in High school together. They are constantly bullied by a group who go by the name of "The Dirties". Matt and Owen are also huge film fans and are in the school's film club. So they decide to shoot a film about their revenge against The Dirties. That's all that I'm going to say about the plot. It's definitely one of those films that you should go into it without knowing too much. Even the IMDb and Letterboxd synopses, I thought, said too much. But anyways, the story is brilliant. I love films that talk about bullies and show how highschoolers, or whatever, deal with the harassment of the bullies. I don't know if Matt and Owen did really experience bullying in their life, but the way it was portrayed felt so realistic and so well done that I'd bet they did. The characters were great, and they felt lifelike. Thus, we as a viewer, care about them and are interested to see what's going to happen in their lives. The film's writers, Matt Johnson and Mathew Miller, did a splendid job indeed.

Matt Johnson and Owen Williams play Matt and Owen in the film. I thought both of them were tremendous. Matt Johnson will probably take all the plaudits but Owen Williams's performance was just as good. The main supporting actress was Krista Madison who played the role of Chrissy, Owen's crush. She was good as well. The acting isn't the main draw of the film though, it's the story and the directing.

The Dirties is a found footage film. I still like found footage films, which I know many people aren't. But The Dirties is well done and doesn't have any moments where you're screaming at the screen "DROP THE CAMERA ALREADY YOU IDIOT!". There is a cameraman, probably more, who tags along with Matt and Owen. I personally have a couple of interpretations about the cameramen, but I'll save those for the sake of not spoiling anything. The movie is also littered with references from numerous other films, so if you're a film buff, you might get a kick out of some of them.

The soundtrack to The Dirties is also pretty good. There are a couple of songs that play over some scenes that fit perfectly. I read that most of the film's budget went into securing the licenses for the music, but I'd say it was worth it.

All in all, The Dirties is a very well done film that shines a new light on bullying. It's evident that Matt Johnson is a very talented young filmmaker who I personally can't wait to see what his future holds for him. A definite recommendation from me.

The Dirties is a film about two high school boys. They are given an assignment to make a movie and choose a plot that deals with taking down a gang of people called "The Dirties" who are bullies, troublemakers and like the title suggests, they are generally dirty folks. When they finish their film and present it, the boys, who are already victims of bullying, see an escalation of abuse. This triggers one of the boys, who loved filming their movie, starts taking the plot of the film and planning an attack on his real life bullies.

This film is simplistic but I really liked that. It brought a realism and showed the progressive mental decline through how these boys were being treated. It was intereting to see the relationship between the friends begin to change and even though there was concern, there was still a naive position that everything was going to be okay.

Bullying is a terrible thing and it is never really about the person that is being picked on. There is something going on within the bully that makes that person believe that by the mistreatment of others his or her own status is elevated. It is even more sad that people stand by quietly allowing the mistreatment of others to take place. Children/teens have not yet reached a point in their mental development to understand why someone would do these things to them and most of it is internalized and will eventually show itself in other ways. In this situation it was shown through seeking revenge.

I thought that this was an excellent film. It was simple and direct. We have to do a better job in making sure that we aren't just saving kids from bullying but also saving the bullies from whatever is making them feel the need to tear someone else down.

For the first time in my life, I watched a movie for a second time, immediately after watching it the first time. Not because the movie was in any way great, because it wasn't, it was crap... I felt compelled to watch it a second time because I was wondering what I'd missed that some reviewers obviously hadn't, and after watching it a second time, I realised I hadn't, in fact, missed anything, and the movie was at least as bad the second time around.

I'm going to give it a solid 3/10, because there was some fairly decent acting in it but realistically, as a movie, it probably deserves a maximum of 2/10 but I'm feeling generous.

I do love reading lengthy reviews from contributors who never reviewed anything before but felt it was their moral duty to write a glowing review for crap movie, although it does bring out the Sherlock in me and makes me wonder how legitimate some of these reviews are.

Anyhow, I guess everyone is entitled to an opinion... my opinion is that this movie was pure crap but hey, don't take my word for it, watch it for yourself and decide.