Ben Whishaw’s unnamed hero wakes up. His face is swollen, tender, his expression blank. Is he remembering where he split his lip? Already there is something unnerving about his gaze, and he’s only looking into space.
Out the door and hitting the street to music, headphones clamped in (or are they?), our man has the beat. But the abandon with which this bopper flails his limbs while he navigates the Hackney pavements, is too much, too reckless. Is he lonely? Malicious? Mentally ill?
Director Aneil Karia keeps it ambiguous, cinematographer Stuart Bentley gives us an East London high street of neon and grime, while Whishaw excels with an electric performance, portraying a misfit constantly pinging between captivating and repellent, who could be either drugged-up or under-medicated, or maybe he just doesn’t give a damn.
Beat has shown at festivals including Edinburgh International Film Festival Cork film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival and Encounters where it picked up the European New Talent Award. For cinemas or film societies looking for a compelling short film to screen before a feature, Beat would work well.
Ben Whishaw's Notebook 