Shannon Matthews: The Musical... The Movie!

Originally a musical from 2010, on CD only, it was probably one of lesser known albums from Kunt & The Gang and didn't even feature Künt singing on the album. Fast forward to the COVID lockdown and a drunken evening led to director Sam Hindman emailing Künt and asking why it wasn't ever staged. Told that no one would touch it, Sam resolved to correct that. In 2022, following previews in Leeds, the musical made it's way to the Edinburgh Fringe, trailing controversy behind it, but garnering rave reviews. This limited run though only led to the wider fanbase to ask for a chance to see it, could it tour, was the live show videoed, or dare we suggest, could there be a movie? This led to a Kickstarter campaign to be launched in September. An initial target of £10,000 was reached almost immediately, so it was stretched and by the end of the campaign, it had earned a budget of around £26,000. Shooting began in York, in January 2023 and continued at various locations until July. Following months of work by Mike Fordham on editing and FX and with Künt finessing a re-recording of the songs for the soundtrack, the film premiered in Leeds on 26th April 2024 and in London, the following day, to an audience of cast, crew, backers and fans. There are two schools of thought about a film like this, the first holds that it is totally reprehensible and should never be made and the other can see the absolute ludicrousness of what happened and have the sense of humour to enjoy such an irreverent treatment of the story. I doubt that the film will enjoy much of a life outside of the UK, so little needs to be said about the events of the faux abduction of Shannon Matthews (aged 9) in 2008, orchestrated by her mother, with the assistance of her boyfriend's uncle. The entire thing would be pure farce, if it wasn't for the concern and trauma it caused for weeks, particularly for the people of Dewsbury. This film though does not mock those people, but rather centres on the pathetic personalities involved; Karen Matthews, who was both twisted enough to conceive of such a plan and stupid enough to imagine that it would work. Craig Meegan, Karen's oblivious, much younger partner, with dodgy internet browsing habits and his educationally challenged uncle, Michael Donovan, who held Shannon captive, though by many reports, she enjoyed her time with him, which is believable, considering what her mother was like. The film itself paints a narrative through the retelling of the story by the fictional Detective Inspector George Radgitt. It features sweary comedic exchanges between Karen and Craig and her plot, through funny, catchy songs in fantasy dream sequences and with in-jokes for the cognoscenti. Considering its micro-budget, it's an incredibly well made film. It looks great and never flags through its roughly 85 minute runtime. The cast are wonderful and pitch their performances perfectly, somewhere around Viz comic caricatures, but with total conviction. Personally speaking, I can't wait to see it again, to try to spot all those little details that I know that I missed. The audience at the premieres, all came out buzzing and that's not something that can be said for many UK comedies of the last 10-15 years. It may only appeal to "a certain sort of person", but they should love it. It really should get annual cinema showings and a cult status, even if there's slim chance of that ever happening. I'll bet that it's not just the best independent UK comedy of the year, but the funniest movie that you're likely to see all year.