Film Review | Gods Of Their Own Religion
Film Review of UK director Naeem Mahmood's new feature film - Gods Of Their Own Religion
I met Naeem in May 2022. We were both exhibiting at a show called The Cure Is Worse Than The (alleged) Disease organised by artist Alex Heaton in Brick Lane, London. Naeem was showing a post-production short for the film and I was showing a few photographs alongside many talented artists sharing their work, all centred around the themes of the past 2 years.
We got to talking. Naeem told me about how the film was made under lockdown and we imagined the film's red-carpet premiere and the impact it would have on audiences from both the normie side and our own.
I was blown away by the promotional trailer for the film that was shown at the exhibition. I’d never experienced anything like the dystopian, and ominous scenes I saw. They portrayed a world where the collective, not the individual rules. Where freedom was a word long forgotten and those who dissented were either cast out or hunted down in the name of compliance to the authority of the state. A vision of a nightmarish near future. One, which at the time wasn’t hard to believe could soon be our own…
We must have spoken for well over an hour, meandering through our respective experiences of lockdowns and the torturous and oppressive world we had come to inhabit. I was lucky enough to also meet Naeem’s brother Ash, one of the producers of the film and their wonderful mother. A magically cheerful and warm lady, full of the same intense insights and observations as those of her sons. I felt a connection with them, like so many at that time, one of meeting and connecting with kindred spirits, souls drawn together by fate and fortune.
It wasn’t until more than a year later that we could reconnect, when the behind-the-scenes documentary NO BUDGET, NO SCRIPT, NO PERMISSION premiered at Sanctum in Soho in November 2023.
I was on hand to help and offered to come and take some pictures of the guest arrivals etc. The atmosphere of anticipation was electrifying. I’d not seen the full film at this point but watched the incredibly well-put-together behind-the-scenes documentary of the making of the film with delight. It served both to give a glimpse of what to expect from the feature and also gave a window into the filmmaking process that Naeem had undertaken. I mean, who in their right mind decides to make a feature film with no budget and no script during a time when the world was closed for business and merely spending more than an hour out of your house or meeting with friends could result in attracting all the wrong kind of attention, fines, or worse? Ambitious is an understatement.
Only a month later the film premiered at the Leicester Square Cineworld attracting a sold out crowd. I was sadly absent from this event, but watched the video and photo footage of what seemed to be an absolutely incredible evening. Naeem has since revealed that even the team at Cineworld were gobsmacked at the turnout. No mean feat for a film of this kind… The kind you dont want to miss and the kind you will one day show your children.
Fast forward to December 2023 and another lesser known premiere of the film took place. This time in a more intimate location, the magnificent Cinema &Co in Swansea, run by the beautiful shining light that is Anna Redfern. Some of you reading this will be familiar with the name of this cinema which became a bastion of freedom during the darkest of lockdown days, flat out refusing restrictions to keep their doors open. I would encourage anyone to get along and support Anna and her team if you havent already.
After taking shots of guests and patrons in the wonderfully cozy bar area (see my Instagram for more on that here), I took a spot at the back of the theatre, set the cameras down and got ready for what would be one of the films of my life, let alone the year or the decade.
The visual and auditory feast that followed was nothing short of a masterpiece.
Opening scenes lay out the cinematic techniques that Naeem has employed, giving the viewer a glimpse of what to expect and how to process the film. I say process because it’s a film which doesn’t hold your hand, but expects something of the viewer, you have to engage with it intellectually. All the necessary pieces of dialogue are in the right places but it’s the absence of dialogue (and light for that matter) at times which becomes somewhat unsettling. This is clearly intentional and when coupled with the outstanding original score, by Greg Birkumshaw, makes for an experience like no other. At times the score itself is the lead, in the absence of dialogue, leaving the viewer searching for audible cues as to the direction of the following scenes. Hints to what’s around the next corner. This technique is executed brilliantly and keeps the viewer on the end of their seat.
Characters themselves are thrown at you, hard. They appear unapologetically from the ether as if materialised into existence by the darkened tones of the world which Naeem sets out for us. They’re hard and harsh but equally, I couldn’t help but see them as a reflection of the feelings of many of us during lockdown times and the tyranny which has since followed. Like a fairground mirror, turning a reflection of the ordinary into the extraordinary.
It’s not hard to see the parallels Naeem is pointing to in this fictional (yet only a heartbeat away from our realities at the time) world. A world where the state wields complete and utter control of the lives of its citizens. Where compliance is not requested, but expected and where fear drives every aspect of life, from the intimate moments behind closed doors to the wider behaviour of society at large. A society which this film reminds us in the starkest of terms - if no one stands up, we are all on our knees.
We follow a group of rebels and dissidents through the bleak landscape of this world. London, but deserted and devoid of culture, of expression, of people, of life. Rebels in this world are not only cast out of society, they are hunted under constant and relentless attack. Sound familiar?
As we progress, following this group of outcasts as they navigate their way, battling for freedom in this grim but seductive dreamscape (there’s really no other word for it), a spiritual element begins to unfold. It’s this mystical and ethereal backdrop which I believe reveals the most about the deep sense of right and wrong that Naeem hurls at the viewer. It’s impossible not to reflect on one’s personal spirituality, whatever that might be. There’s no religion as such but it’s a humanist kind of spirituality which unites these rebels but speaks too of us all as one race, the human race.
Performances and casting are nothing short of a masterstroke. Kyd Nerida (Kid), female lead and sexy badass steals the show with a spellbinding and flawless performance amongst other flawless performances in which it’s easy to think she might embody her character in everyday life. Christopher Chung (C2) and Ricki Hall (King) offer a hypnotic juxtaposition of male protagonists, keeping viewers unsettled about knowing who is good and who is bad.
Flashes of past time fuel the progression towards the dystopia these rebels find themselves battling against and finally bring to a close the wild rollercoaster journey and delicious visual mosaic we are treated to. This is where we find some of the films most powerful and emotionally evocative moments.
I’m sure I wasn’t alone in my breathlessness as the final credits rolled. I thought to myself I would love to dive head first into Naeem’s head…
Then I thought, nah…I might never return.
GODS OF THEIR OWN RELIGION is out now! For details of screenings head to the following -
https://www.naeemmahmood.co.uk/gods-of-their-own-religion?s=09
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