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Ashens and the Polybius Heist

  • 2020
  • TV-MA
  • 1h 39m
IMDb RATING
5.8/10
519
YOUR RATING
Stuart Ashen in Ashens and the Polybius Heist (2020)
A motley crew of misfits hunt down an infamous 80's arcade game that can supposedly control people's minds.
Play trailer2:13
1 Video
5 Photos
ParodyComedy

A motley crew of misfits hunt down an infamous '80s arcade game that can supposedly control people's minds.A motley crew of misfits hunt down an infamous '80s arcade game that can supposedly control people's minds.A motley crew of misfits hunt down an infamous '80s arcade game that can supposedly control people's minds.

  • Director
    • Riyad Barmania
  • Writers
    • Stuart Ashen
    • Riyad Barmania
    • Daniel Hardcastle
  • Stars
    • Stuart Ashen
    • Tom Bonington
    • Eli Silverman
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.8/10
    519
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Riyad Barmania
    • Writers
      • Stuart Ashen
      • Riyad Barmania
      • Daniel Hardcastle
    • Stars
      • Stuart Ashen
      • Tom Bonington
      • Eli Silverman
    • 24User reviews
    • 7Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 17 wins & 4 nominations total

    Videos1

    Main Trailer
    Trailer 2:13
    Main Trailer

    Photos4

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster

    Top cast87

    Edit
    Stuart Ashen
    Stuart Ashen
    • Ashens
    Tom Bonington
    Tom Bonington
    • Unstable Homeowner
    Eli Silverman
    • Benny
    Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong
    Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong
    • Persistent Customer
    • (as Tayla K. Ebong)
    Samuel Arber
    • Young Ashens
    • (as Samuel John Arber)
    Charlotte Arber
    • Young Christine
    • (as Charlotte Kate Arber)
    Nigel Fairs
    • Jonathan Ashen
    Nicky Burke
    Nicky Burke
    • Mrs Ashen
    • (as Nicola Burke)
    Robert Llewellyn
    Robert Llewellyn
    • The Professor
    Taylor Rae Papworth
    • 80's Polybius Victim
    • (as Taylor Papworth)
    Quanique Boyd
    • 80's Polybius Victim
    Jay Jones
    • 80's Polybius Victim
    Akshy Marayen
    • 80's Polybius Victim
    • (as Akshay Marayan)
    Joanna O'Connor
    Joanna O'Connor
    • Christine
    Dan Tomlinson
    • Geoff
    Barry Lewis
    • Chef Assistance
    Jarred Christmas
    • Jarred
    Raychel Addo
    Raychel Addo
    • Poker Player 1
    • Director
      • Riyad Barmania
    • Writers
      • Stuart Ashen
      • Riyad Barmania
      • Daniel Hardcastle
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews24

    5.8519
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    Featured reviews

    10suedavies-25332

    A Real Blast - not just for nerdy blokes

    While the synopsis might make this movie seem a bit nerdy and niche market, it reaches parts others can't reach. It is a blast. Lots of laughs and some great characters. Good to see some strong women characters. Loved the oh so stylish jumpers. Has production quality rarely reached in low budget productions.
    7drmoose-37021

    Up and down, but even the downs are solid.

    This film set itself two very difficult goals.

    The first - creating a comedy heist movie at all - it succeeds at very well. The characters are neither so competent that they are distant, nor so incompetent that the heist itself is unconvincing; the percieved difficulty of the heist is pitched just right, the characters' failing are understandable and identifable, and it strictly limits the amount of humor that comes from character incompetence. The production quality is also remarkably high, especially for the budget involved.

    The second challenge is making a character-driven movie featuring YouTubers, who (regardless of acting ability) have the difficulty of their existing fanbases associating them wholly with their "YouTube mood". Ashens himself comes off best, due to his previous acting experience, his fanbase's knowledge of his previous films, and his dry-comedy theme; but as mentioned elsewhere, Dan Hardcastle clearly suffers from trying to play his YouTube persona "Nerd Cubed" in a way his viewers would expect (they even named his character "The Cube"), which leaves his character reacting to a disasterous development like.. well, a YouTuber reacting to an abrupt Game Over on a Let's Play video, rather than a person who is actually in imminent and increasing danger of going to prison for 20 years.

    The difficulties of the second by no means overcome the success of the first, though, and the film works extremely well as a convincing heist with some genuinely hilarious moments.

    There are a few down spots, though, in part caused by the film's habit of integrating meta-humour about directorial tropes and film-making at odd moments. This often comes up in the backgrounds or details of the film, sometimes so dramatically that it comes close to being its own CinemaSins reel, but when it gets pushed to the foreground it becomes more awkward. The scene where the villain has to pursue Ashens while both are moving extremely slowly through motion detectors probably sounded hilarious on paper but when actually filmed you realize it's just two people moving really slowly in gaits that don't make sense; it looks like a good chunk of that scene was edited out, for good reason.

    By far the cringiest of these points was one which a sign inside the facility is written purely in Greek, entirely so that the (otherwise incompetent) Greek-speaking character accidentally recruited by the team can turn out to be crucial. I suspect this was intended as a parody of this trope in team movies, but with no explanation it comes across as so contrived as to just be a horrible example of that trope rather than a joke about it.

    As previously stated, though, the highs and the general quality outweight the lows, and while this film will obviously appeal much more to fans of the YouTubers involved, to nerds, and to fans of Ashens' style of humor (whether or not they have heard of the man himself), it's a fun watch for anyone, especially those with prior experience of heist movies.
    8simmonsdude

    Great Cast for a Great Film

    This film has a plot that keeps you guessing and wondering what's going to happen next. The whole film is enjoyable and the cast do a great job!
    8HowlingSnail

    An Excellent Movie

    I'm someone who backed the crowdfunding campaign for this movie all the way back in 2018, so I'm very glad to have finally been able to see the movie!

    I really enjoyed this film. More so than the first Ashens film actually, and I definitely think this one is more friendly to people who aren't familiar with Ashens' Youtube channel. It's not for everyone, but if you like this particular style of humour, you'll definitely have an enjoyable hour and a half.
    6woodgateliam

    Better than the first, though that isn't saying much.

    Once again Ashens graces us with a legit film, featuring more geeky humour than ever before and hoping to dial everything ut to 11 for a knockout sequel.

    Fortuneately this film is vastly superior to the first, which was more of an experiment to see if the concept of Stuart Ashen looking for weird put there gaming artifacts would stick. The first, if you remember had some bits that really worked and others that were just cringe inducing, but even so it was recieved well enough for a sequel.

    The Polybius Heist already stands on better feet than it's predecessor, the acting has drastically improved across the board (there is an exception I will get to later) and while the overall goal of this film is pretty much the same as the first, the way that goal is written towards is really well done.

    Now the acting exception. Daniel Hardcastle is awful in this film, I've no idea how he managed to get into this film, every line he reads is read exactly the same way and similar tone of voice, he cannot do subtlety or even clearly speak.

    More like this

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    Related interests

    Bill Pullman, John Candy, Joan Rivers, Daphne Zuniga, and Lorene Yarnell Jansson in Spaceballs (1987)
    Parody
    Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The registration of the van they use for the heist reads PWND LND or Poundland which is a reference to Ashens' Poundland series of videos
    • Crazy credits
      After all the credits are played out, the distinctive six-note jingle from the start of Ashens' YouTube videos is played, but with the final "Hello!" replaced with "Goodbye!".
    • Connections
      Follows Ashens and the Quest for the Gamechild (2013)
    • Soundtracks
      Settle the Score
      Written by Michael Spencer Chapman

      Composed by Michael Spencer Chapman

      Performed by James Marsh

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    FAQ16

    • How long is Ashens and the Polybius Heist?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 19, 2020 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official Site
    • Language
      • English
    • Filming locations
      • London, Greater London, England, UK(location)
    • Production company
      • Relentless Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 39m(99 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo
      • Dolby SR
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39:1

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