1979 · drama · borstal · clarke
Scum
Directed by Alan Clarke1h 36m1979
Carlin is a new reform school inmate with a reputation as a hard case. The authorities encourage gang leader Pongo to humble Carlin, but Carlin overtakes Pongo as Daddy of the ward. The guards institute a reign of terror and neglect, with Carlin emerging as an unlikely leader.
Our read: Scum (1979) reads as a heavy, kinetic, grounded drama · borstal · clarke entry — extreme in intensity, intimate in scope, cold in temperature, nihilistic in outlook.
Heavy, kinetic, extreme drama / borstal, grounded in texture. Nihilistic, intimate, cold.
- heavy
- brisk
- extreme
- bleak
- cold
Watching Scum tonight? Spin for your lens.
Everyone on the couch spins once and gets one craft to watch for. After the credits, compare what you caught.
Your lens for tonight
?
Everyone on the couch gets one craft to watch for. Spin the wheel to get yours. Sound on: the narrator reads your mission.
Availability in the UK · via JustWatch
More info & search links
How Scum feels to watch.
Each axis is scored by hand, not from votes or genre averages. The bar uses the film's own colours.
What watching it is actually like.
“You need unflinching British prison brutality with zero sentimental escape.”
Skip it tonight — You cannot stomach institutional violence or sexual assault on screen.
Eight films that feel like this one.
Closest in the twelve-axis space, not “people also liked”. All films like Scum, with why →
Discussion
Make it a movie night.
Pick a mood, get a film the whole couch will enjoy, and give everyone something to watch for.
Pick tonight's film →