Tyrannosaur (2011)

Tyrannosaur review
Brutal, vicious and terrifying are the first things I think of when I think of a Tyrannosaur. This isn’t a movie set in prehistoric times and it doesn’t have any ties to Jurassic Park. Those initial feelings do come pretty close in describing this movie though.

Tyrannosaur review

When Joseph (Peter Mullan) is introduced in the opening scene we see him angry about something. He has so much rage that he decides to take it out on his dog, who doesn’t survive the ordeal. It’s this opening that sets the tone for the rest movie. Joseph has got a very short fuse, but as he has just lost one of his best friends because of his anger he is struggling to keep it under control and not follow his instinct. During one angry episode he walks into a charity store, where he meets Hannah (Olivia Colman) who manages to calm him down somewhat by praying for him. They get to know each other better and as a viewer you find out that Hannah has some dark secrets as well.

Tyrannosaur review

Now this is not a movie that’s easy to watch as it deals with some serious issues. It’s hard to sympathise with Joseph, but you hope he is able to get his life in order. Peter Mullan gives a very credible performance as he manages to channel pure anger onto the screen. The movie also allows you to get into the mind of Hannah and understand why she does the things she does. Actor Eddie Marsan also needs to be mentioned here as he is evil in the flesh and his character is one that you will hate with a passion. Tyrannosaur offers a very dark story brought to life through some amazing acting and is not to be missed.

Score: 9

14 thoughts on “Tyrannosaur (2011)

  1. Awesome! I haven’t seen many people blogging about this movie, so I assume it hasn’t gotten any wide distribution. I’m glad to see some more love for it. The acting was indeed amazing.

    • I don’t think a lot of people have even heard of it, but that’s not a surprise as it would probably be a movie that is very hard to market. It’s stunning though!

  2. Olivia Colman gives the performance of the year in this film! Mullan and Marsden are bloody good too but Colman is off the scale! Brilliant film!

    • Yeah, she’s great. I only knew her from Green Wing where she played a completely different character. With this she shows she has a lot of range!

  3. I’ve read pretty great things about Tyrannousaur, Dan from Top 10 films just named it the best British movie of 2011 and he definitely has a better handle on the Brit film scene than I do. So, given your review and a couple of other ones I’ve come across, I’m putting Tyrannosaur in my queue.

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