''Twist'' is a 2021 British

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

film directed by Martin Owen and co-produced by

Noel Clarke Noel Anthony Clarke (born 6 December 1975) is a British actor, screenwriter, director, and comic book writer. Rising to prominence for playing Mickey Smith in ''Doctor Who'' (2005–2010), he played Sam in the films ''Kidulthood'' (2006), ''Adu ...

and

Jason Maza Jason Maza (born 24 April 1986) is an English actor, producer, director and screenwriter. Career Maza was accepted to the Central School of Speech and Drama, but at that time, he was already working as an actor so decided not to attend. Althou ...

, who also stars in the film. The film, an adaptation of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

' 1838 novel ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...

'', stars Rafferty Law,

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...

Lena Headey Lena Kathren Headey ( ; born 3 October 1973) is a British actress. She gained international recognition and acclaim for her portrayal of Cersei Lannister on the HBO epic fantasy drama series '' Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), for which she re ...

Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence in February 2012 when she featured on DJ Fresh's single, "Hot Right Now", which reached number one in the UK. Her debut studi ...

and Sophie Simnett. ''Twist'' was released on

Sky Cinema Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema on ...

on 29 January 2021 and was met with negative reception from critics.

Plot

A thief named Tom steals an envelope from a safe and escapes from guards, but is thrown off a building by an unseen assailant. The envelope is stolen while Tom is left to die. Years before, a boy named Oliver lived with his mother Molly and their hobby was painting. After Molly dies from unknown causes, Oliver runs away scared due to not knowing anyone else. He teaches himself to free run and gets the nickname "Twist". One day while graffiti spraying on a traffic warden's van, the police chase him and he meets Dodge and Batesey (The Artful Dodger and Charles Bates). They escape to their den near the Truman Brewery where Twist meets Fagin, their carer. The next morning, Twist draws a giant graffiti painting on a building. Fagin sends Red (Nancy Lee) to invite Twist (who is smitten with her) to his for dinner. Meanwhile, Fagin meets with a friend of his named Sikes (Bill Sikes) revealing she pushed Chitling. Twist stays with the family and Fagin reveals his plan to steal from art dealer Dr. Crispin Losberne who took everything from Fagin. They then steal his phone and Batesey makes a copy. Meanwhile, Red, as a distraction, asks to be an intern for Losberne, so the next day Fagin gets the blueprints to Losberne's gallery. Twist meets Sikes and her dog Bull's-Eye. Fagin explains that Losberne once went into partnership with a Mr. Issac Solomon who Losberne also betrayed. Red plants a small bomb in Losberne's bathroom to steal a lost painting by

William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like s ...

. The bomb floods the basement and causes the painting to have to be moved. Back at base, Twist finds out that Red and Sikes are a couple upsetting him. At a pub, Red appears and Sikes’ goons attack the group while Dodge plays Ever Fallen In Love in the jukebox. Twist and Red escape to a pool where the two kiss and run through the park. Twist is arrested by the traffic warden from earlier and is interrogated by Detectives Brownlow and Bedwin who tell him about Chitling. Twist is let free and gets back to base. Batesey is planning to get in a box to steal the painting while it's on the move but because he's claustrophobic, Twist switches places with him. Losberne finds out about the thieves and this causes Twist to fall out the van. Sikes picks Batesey up and apparently kills him. Twist gets back to base and asks "What happened to Tom Chitling?" and Sikes reveals that she killed Tom. Fagin makes a plan to break into the auction building. Disguised, the group sneak in and Fagin plants a gun in Losberne's chair. This causes a big evacuation. Twist steals the painting and escapes with Dodge. Batesey, who is still alive, reveals that Sikes tried to kill him and meets them at the base where Twist reveals he made a duplicate of the painting and has hidden the real one. He and Red escape and Sikes shoots Fagin. She then chases them to a rooftop and is shot by Fagin and falls off the building. A week later, Twist meets Bedwin and Brownlow at a café and leaves them the envelope and a key. He then calls Brownlow hinting that the painting was right next to them the whole time. The envelope reveals the true owners of the painting and the key leads them to a locker owned by Losberne (who is arrested) which houses many stolen artwork. Fagin is revealed to be Issac Solomon and leaves the gang. It’s also revealed that when Twist was in the van, he snuck a painting by his mother and it goes on display at the National Gallery. The film ends with Twist telling the gang to stop stealing and start selling paintings while he and Red start a relationship.

Cast

* Rafferty Law as

as Issac "Fagin" Solomon *

as Sikes *

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

as Brownlow *

Franz Drameh Franz Alhusaine Drameh (born 5 January 1993) is an English actor. His film debut was in Clint Eastwood's fantasy drama, ''Hereafter'' (2010). He also appeared in British film '' Attack the Block'' (2011) and the 2014 blockbuster ''Edge of Tomor ...

as Batesey * Sophie Simnett as Nancy "Red" Lee *

David Walliams David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little B ...

as Dr. Crispin Losberne *

as Bedwin * Dominic Di Tommaso as Tom Chitling *

Leigh Francis Leigh Izaak Francis (born 30 April 1973), known professionally as Keith Lemon, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for creating and starring in Channel 4's sketch comedy show ''Bo' Selecta!'' (200 ...

as Warden Bumble *

Nick Nevern Nick Nevern (born 8 December 1980) is a British actor, screenwriter and director. He is best known for his roles in Eastenders first as Rennie, then as Don , Shameless as Rogowski,and The Hooligan Factory as Dex. Early life Nevern was born an ...

as Ron

Production

It was announced in October 2019 that a new take on the

novel had begun filming, with Raff Law cast to play the titular Twist.

was cast as

Fagin Fagin is a fictional character and the secondary antagonist in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist''. In the preface to the novel, he is described as a "receiver of stolen goods". He is the leader of a group of children (the Artful Dod ...

, with

and

cast as female renditions of

Bill Sikes William "Bill" Sikes is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. Sikes is a malicious criminal in Fagin's gang, and a vicious robber and murderer. Throughout much of the novel Sikes i ...

and

Artful Dodger Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, is a character in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist''. The Dodger is a pickpocket, so called for his skill and cunning in that occupation. He is the leader of the gang of child criminals ...

, respectively.

and Sophie Simnett were also cast. The film was produced by

Pure Grass Films Pure Grass Films is a British independent production company that specialises in digital entertainment series, feature films and television series. History Pure Grass Films was co-founded by Managing Director Ben Grass and Creative Director T ...

, along with Unstoppable Film and Television, and First Access Entertainment Film and Television. The UK-based company Koala FX was responsible for the digital make up and advance clean up.

Music

Ora wrote a song for the film entitled “Flame”. The soundtrack was composed by Neil Athale and produced by Tom Linden who also wrote a song for the film (credited as TL) alongside Laura Greaves entitled “Get Back Up”.

Release

distributed the film within the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, with

Saban Films Saban Capital Group LLC is an American investment firm based in Los Angeles, California focused on media, entertainment, and communications investments. Formed in 2010 by Haim Saban, Saban Capital Group owns Saban Films, part of Univision Commun ...

distributing within

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. Originally, the film was set for a 2020 release. However, the film was pushed to 2021. It was released on 29 January.

The Vaccines The Vaccines are an English indie rock band, formed in West London in 2010. Band members Justin Hayward-Young (lead vocals, guitar), Freddie Cowan (lead guitar, vocals), Árni Árnason (bass, vocals), Timothy Lanham (guitars, keys, vocals) and ...

’ unreleased song Wanderlust from their 5th LP Back In Love City was played during the trailer.

Novel

Tom Grass at

released a novelisation based on the film but has more adult content.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, it has a 9% score, based on 34 reviews, with an average rating of 3.40/10. Its critic consensus reads, "The real Twist in this lunkheaded Dickens update is the involvement of Michael Caine, who hopefully got another terrific house out of it."

Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdashers ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' gave it two stars out of five, saying that 'the action and comedy are under par'. Clarisse Loughrey of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' gave it one out of five stars, writing, 'With its hectic pace and textbook needle drops –

The Fratellis The Fratellis are a Scottish rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom ...

' "

Chelsea Dagger "Chelsea Dagger" is a song by Scottish rock band the Fratellis. It was released as the second single from their debut studio album, ''Costello Music'' (2006), on 28 August 2006. It is named after Jon Fratelli's wife Heather, a burlesque dancer ...

" makes an appearance – ''Twist'' never really functions as much more than another

Guy Ritchie Guy Stuart Ritchie (born 10 September 1968) is an English film director, producer and screenwriter. His work includes British gangster films, and the ''Sherlock Holmes'' films starring Robert Downey Jr. Ritchie left school at age 15 and wor ...

homage.'

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{Oliver Twist 2021 films 2021 crime drama films 2021 LGBT-related films British crime drama films British LGBT-related films Films based on Oliver Twist Films set in London Hood films Films shot in London Lesbian-related films LGBT-related drama films Oliver Twist 2020s English-language films 2020s British films