A fast-paced thriller set in contemporary London Blitz reflects the challenges faced by a group of police officers working in a modern, multi-cultural society. A raw, gritty tale of moral ambiguity, outsiders and the sacrifices the police make to keep crime off British streets.
Tough, uncompromising and totally un-PC London cop Brant (Jason Statham) gives a group of teenage hoodies a lesson in why you shouldn’t break into someone’s car and then threaten to kill them. An incorrect version of the story, suggesting the hoodies were innocent victims, written by hack crime reporter and Brant nemesis Harold Dunlop (David Morrissey) makes the national press and Brant is hauled in to see police psychologist Dr Leonard (Bill Champion).
Brant lives and breathes work and it’s starting to take its toll. WPC Falls (Zawe Ashton) a former undercover drug cop only recently out of rehab is also feeling the pressure and has just failed her sergeant’s exam, so she confides in her friend and mentor Brant.
Brant’s mentor and boss, Roberts (Mark Rylance), has just lost his wife and turns to his one true friend Brant for support. After her cremation, the two men drown their sorrows in the Police’s local pub and find ironically that her ashes have been stolen. Life for these south London cops is never dull and it’s just about to take a turn for the worst when a psychotic cop-killer starts picking off officers from their station one-by-one, starting with a young WPC called Sandra Bates (Elly Fairman), who is shot on night patrol at point-blank range by a hooded figure.
DC Porter Nash (Paddy Considine), who has battled the system as an openly gay policeman, is transferred from his usual West London patch to oversee the murder hunt. His initiation into South London is less than welcoming, with Porter Nash Sucks Cock emblazoned on a toilet wall.
Falls has been trying to reform a troubled hoodie, Metal (Stephen Harwood-Brown), who took care of her after rehab. The kid turns to her when he thinks he and his gang may have killed an Asian guy. Falls asks Brant if he can help find out whether the guy died and whether Metal is in the frame; Brant directs her to a Brixton cop called Stokes (Luke Evans).
Dunlop receives a call from a guy offering information on the cop killings…and it turns out to be the killer himself, Barry Weiss (Aidan Gillen), offering to make Dunlop famous by feeding him information on the murders. The killer asks Dunlop what number he prefers, “seven or eight?” and Dunlop replies flippantly “eight” only to shockingly discover that he has inadvertently decided on the number of victims. Weiss puts down the phone and then guns down a second cop in broad daylight…
Classification 18