‘Accused’ review: Dir. Philip Barantini [Overlook Film Festival]

Philip Barantini’s one take wonder, Boiling Point, was a traumatising, anxiety inducing nightmare. Set within an evening service of a restaurant, the film is a trigger for anyone that either is working, or has worked, in a food service environment. Now Barantini is back with Accused, a film with a very different story, but one that will nonetheless have the audience trapped in another ball of tension. 

Accused stars Chaneil Kular as Harri, a young man who finds himself at the centre of an online witch hunt after being mistakenly identified as a potential terrorist. Opening with a glimpse into Harri’s social media life, Accused is quick to set the character up as just another ordinary nondescript person. The real life version of Harri is equally vanilla, his biggest sin being that he is yet to tell his parents about his girlfriend Chloe (Lauryn Ajufo). He is a dutiful son, and embarks to watch his family home and care for his childhood pet dog Flynn while his parents are on holiday. Having not told his parents about Chloe, Harri travels alone to their house, and that is where his trouble begins… 

As Harri leaves central London, an explosive device is triggered. The event happens off-screen; news stories and phone conversations happening around Harri alert him and the viewer to the incident. It is important that the viewer remains with Harri throughout as, for Accused to work, the audience must know that Harri is completely innocent of the crime. Harri himself hardly reacts to the news, other than to think himself lucky for not having been caught up in it. He continues onto his parents house where over dinner the three joke about how airport security will take longer for them as Asian people in light of the day’s events. Their conversation is an honest one, and is an early example of how naturalistic Barnaby Boulton and James Cummings’ script is. The dinner scene further affirms Harri as a regular guy with strong family values. It is also the last happy moment Harri is going to have for the rest of the night. 

After his parents leave for their holiday, Harri continues to be unfazed by his potential near-miss and settles in with Flynn for a night in front of the TV. His behaviour is in contrast to Chloe, who is clearly shaken and has been spending her time watching the news cycle. At this stage the authorities release a blurry image of a person of interest, who appears to share Harri’s dress sense. Chloe jokes that the person looks just like him, but neither thinks anything more of it. Once again, their conversation feels natural, and their banter authentic, but after a former school friend notices the likeness and shares their feelings online, Harri’s night gets turned upside down. Suddenly he is fielding hundreds, then thousands of notifications, tags, and comments about himself. Though a few are trying to be a rational voice of reason, encouraging people to wait for concrete evidence before jumping to conclusions, an overwhelming number are happy to accept one comment as proof of Harri’s guilt. Suddenly he finds himself the victim of extreme trolling. Worse still, some of the trolls are not happy to hurl abuse from behind a computer screen and set out to find Harri. 

Harri’s ‘outing’ on social media is a chilling, but all too familiar scenario to see unfold. People are content to take posts on socials as gospel and often wade in on arguments and debates that they don’t have the facts for, or fully understand. In Accused, the scenario is far more extreme, but given online experiences, it is one that you can believe could happen. Similarly Harri’s reaction is a truthful one, rather than wade in and fight the trolls, he opts to keep quiet, believing it will blow over. But as threats are made against him, and his address is revealed online, he moves from stressed and angry to rightfully afraid. 

Chaneil Kular is excellent as Harri, the actor having to carry the film alone for much of the run time. Massive chunks of Accused focus on Harri watching and reacting to comments appearing online. His performance conveys Harri’s frustration and incredulity at the situation, and draws the viewer into his emotional plight. Some will argue that the character needs work, that Harri should be better at articulating himself and his innocence, especially when he makes calls to the police.Were the character to be a white man, the argument might be valid, but the sad reality is that as an Asian man, even if he did, it would change nothing. 

As the story shifts from online terror to home invasion, Barantini ratchets up the tension exponentially. Scenes on screen have already been horribly uncomfortable, but from this point on the atmosphere is intensely toxic. Barantini demonstrated an affinity for inducing audience wide anxiety attacks in Boiling Point, but in Accused they become even more potent. A 2am sequence of Harri stealthy sneaking around the house whilst vigilantes potentially amass outside, is a nerve-shredding standout. The silence is deafening and your breath catches in your throat. Barantini proves himself as highly skilled at inducing panic from the simplest of set-ups. 

What makes the story in Accused so impactful is the way in which it holds a mirror up to our society. In particular, Barantini’s film does a great job at exploring how social media can easily be weaponized. The decision to keep the identity of the online trolls obscured plays into the perceived anonymity that the internet provides. The speed in which Harri goes from nobody to public enemy number one is terrifying. It being a case of mistaken identity allows the viewer to imagine themselves in Harri’s shoes, though the stark reality is that in this particular instance, racial profiling comes into play and only a subset of viewers will truly feel the extent of Harri’s pain. That doesn’t diminish the viewing experience for those outside of these marginalised communities, Barantini instead uses his story to caution against aligning to such closed minded viewpoints. 

Accused also works as a warning about the information we share online. Harri’s tormentors easily track him down thanks to location tagging on social posts. Barantini proves just how effortless it can be for a stranger to access privileged information, and maybe we should all think twice about being so open online. Accused demonstrates too that you don’t have to live online to become a victim. The peek into Harri’s online self at the start shows someone who only occasionally posts. He is not as obsessed with social media as his peers, but by having a virtual footprint, he is as much of a target as the next person. Accused certainly offers plenty of food for thought, and the whole concept encourages further reflection and discussion. At the same time, Accused is a solid home invasion thriller that will keep viewers hooked on the edge of their seats. 

Accused was reviewed at Overlook Film Festival. Accused is available on Netflix from 22 September.