The Movies: Pride (x2), The Book Thief, The Railway Man, Belle, '71, Serena, Noah, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (x2), Love Rosie The story of nine reprehensible Oxford students (and one, minorly-likeable, de facto protagonist), blinded by their inherited wealth, The Riot Club was an at times on-the-nose look at the British class divide that gets exacerbated by the university system. The film centres on one of the eponymous club's dinners, where they proceed to trash a country pub and beat its owner to a pulp, Bullingdon-style, because they "f**king hate poor people". It'd be easy to think these "actors" were little more than semi-self aware poshos keen to highlight their superiority, but thankfully it's become clear they were just acting; they've been busy showing a wide range of talents in what feels like every 2014 movie. Most notable are Sam Claflin (Finnick in The Hunger Games) and Douglas Booth (Noah), but most of the gang have popped up in a bizarrely high-number of films this year, particularly in the latter half. The Riot Club may not have received as much critical attention as Lone Scherfig's previous An Education, but it will certainly have a big impact. Just as the Oscar-nominated coming-of-age story catapulted Carey Mulligan to super-stardom, so it seems this adaptation of adored stage-play Posh has marked out the biggest English names to watch out for in the coming years.
