Havoc Review

Havoc
Bored with their privileged suburban lifestyles, teenaged Allison and her friends routinely take drugs and imitate gangster talk. A run-in with a dealer in down-town LA fascinates Allison, and she befriends him and his gang with dramatic consequences.

by Anna Smith |
Published on
Release Date:

27 Oct 2006

Running Time:

85 minutes

Certificate:

18

Original Title:

Havoc

Widely known as the one in which Anne Hathaway gets her kit off, this went direct  to DVD in the US, but it’s not without merit — even disregarding Hathaway’s charms. Much like Kids and Thirteen, it seeks to expose the rebellion of American youngsters, in part eroticising their adventures and in part cautioning against the consequences.

As Allison, Hathaway enlivens her suburban life by taking drugs and imitating gangster-speak, but it’s when she befriends a real drug-dealer that things take a turn for the dark. There’s humour as the wealthy ‘wiggers’ posture and swagger, and suspense as they toy with real gangsters. But thanks to an abrupt ending and an unnecessary expositionary device (a documentary being made by a fellow student), the final impact is minimal.

Verdict While asking some interesting questions about the motivations of slumming-it teens, this drama fails to provide many answers. Still, with its openly titillative agenda, there’s never a dull moment.
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