''Montana'' is a 2014 British

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...

directed by

Mo Ali Mo Ali ( so, Maxamed Cali, ar, محمد علي) is a Somali-British film director. Biography Ali was born in Saudi Arabia. He began his movie career in 2010, making his directorial debut in the drama film '' Shank'', set in a futuristic Lon ...

set in the East End of London starring McKell David as the title character in his first lead role in a feature film. He has since been in the TV series Holby City as Lloyd Kramer. The score was composed by

Toydrum Toydrum are an English musical duo formed in 2011 by former Unkle band members and record producers Pablo Clements and James Griffith. The pair work out of their Brighton studio, The Toyrooms, where they wrote and recorded their debut EP, ''Dis ...

Plot

A 14-year-old drug-runner called Montana ( McKell David) gets haunted by crime lord Lazarus. Facing death, he is rescued by ex-Serbian Commando Dimitrije (

Lars Mikkelsen Lars Dittmann Mikkelsen (born 6 May 1964) is a Danish actor. He has played Copenhagen mayoral election candidate Troels Hartmann in the drama series '' The Killing'', Charles Augustus Magnussen in the third series of '' Sherlock'', the Russian ...

), a man with a dark past who wants to destroy Lazarus and his criminal empire. Dimitrije trains Montana to be an assassin, and they plan their revenge on Lazarus to wipe him out for good.

Cast

* McKell David as Montana *

as Dimitrije *

Michelle Fairley Michelle Fairley (born 1964–1965) is an actress from Northern Ireland. She is best known for playing Catelyn Stark in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2013). She has since appeared in the USA Network series '' Suits'' (2013), the ...

as DCI Rachel Jones *

Duane Henry Duane Henry (born 18 March 1985) is an English actor. Henry is most notable for his work on '' NCIS'', '' Doctors'', and '' W.E.'' He currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Early life Duane Henry was born in Birmingham, West Midlands, ...

as Junior *

Dominique Tipper Dominique Jade Tipper (born 24 June 1988) is a British actress, dancer and singer-songwriter. She rose to prominence in her role as Naomi Nagata, the engineer in the SyFy/ Amazon Prime Video science fiction television series '' The Expanse''. ...

as Mohawk * Ashley Walters as Ryan * Alexandra Weaver as Danica *

Kedar Williams-Stirling Kedar Williams-Stirling (; born 14 December 1994) is an English actor. His film roles include the action dramas ''Shank'' (2010) and ''Montana'' (2014). On television, he has appeared as a series regular on the CBBC teen fantasy ''Wolfblood'' ...

as Lorenzo *

Oliver Stark Oliver Leon Jones (born June 27th 1991), known professionally as Oliver Stark, is a British actor. He is best known for his roles as Evan "Buck" Buckley in ''9-1-1'' on Fox, and as Ryder in AMC's martial arts-based drama ''Into the Badlands''. ...

as Cal *

Zlatko Buric Zlatko ( sr-Cyrl, Златко, ) is a South Slavic masculine given name. The name is derived from the word ''zlato'' meaning gold with hypocoristic suffix ''-ko'' common in South Slavic languages. Zlatko is a given name. Notable people with the n ...

as Slavko * Adam Deacon as Pitt *

Ryan Oliva Ryan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) *Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Australia * Division of Ryan, an electo ...

as Branko * Richie Campbell as Isaac *

Sinead Michael Sky Smith is a fictional character in the British children's science fiction television series ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'', a spin-off of the long-running series '' Doctor Who'', played by Sinead Michael. She appears as a regular in the show' ...

as Jess(another citation) *

Rocky Marshall Rocky Marshall (born c.1967) is an English television and film actor, living near Battersea Park. Biography Rocky Marshall trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and was taught by Sam Kogan for the first 2 years there. He has starred in mo ...

as DC Liam West *

Darrell D'Silva Darrell Fitzgerald D'Silva (born 5 January 1964) is a British film and theatre actor, notable for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Early life and education D'Silva was born in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. He is of Italian, Portugue ...

as Lazarus *

Eddie Bagayawa Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology * Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle *Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...

as The Chinaman

Production

Shooting of the film took six weeks on locations all over London, including Hackney, Poplar, Brick Lane,

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, during February and March 2013. On casting of McKell David, director Mo Ali said: "From the first time I met McKell David, I knew I'd found my Montana." Review from Independent reads: "Director Mo Ali has an obvious flair for action – but little instinct for story or characterisation. At times, his new film plays like an episode of ''Grange Hill'', as if directed by Quentin Tarantino."

Reception

Empire Magazine gave it 3/5 stars in their review: "Tougher than a box of nails, this is a brassy revenge thriller that refuses to pull its punches."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 2208568 2014 films 2010s English-language films British action thriller films British crime thriller films 2014 crime drama films 2014 crime thriller films 2014 action thriller films Films set in London 2014 drama films Films about the Serbian Mafia 2010s British films