Donkey Punch (film)
Encyclopedia
Donkey Punch is a 2008 British thriller film about a group of English people
on holiday in Spain
who end up fighting for their lives. The film was written and directed by Oliver Blackburn and David Bloom, and stars Nichola Burley
, Tom Burke
, Jaime Winstone and Julian Morris
.
, Spain
meet four young men, Bluey (Tom Burke), Josh (Julian Morris), Sean (Robert Boulter) and Marcus (Jay Taylor), who invite them to their yacht and take the girls out to sea. While they are out at sea they take drugs, the conversation turns to sex and in particular, types of sexual acts. One of the men describes a sex act called a "donkey punch
" which involves punching the female in the back of the head while having "doggy-style" sex in order to increase the sexual pleasure for the man.
Marcus, Bluey, Kim and Lisa go below where they begin having drug fuelled sex, watched by Josh who, in the knowledge of all involved, lingers furtively in the darkness. Bluey, who is copulating with Lisa, asks Josh to film the action and then decides to let Josh take a turn. Josh and Lisa then have Anal sex
. Immediately prior to ejaculation and with Bluey's encouragement, Josh administers a donkey punch with a hammer to Lisa but uses excessive force, breaking her neck and killing her. To cover up the incident, the men decide to throw the body overboard while the women want to report it to the authorities, and argument ensues about what to do with the tape. Bluey insults Tammi and in a fit of rage, she stabs and wounds him, and the women escape in the yacht's tender
. However, the girls soon realise that the tender's outboard motor is missing (a cut scene shows it still attached to the yacht). In a fit of despair, Tammi fires a flare, attracting the attention of the men. They quickly locate and pick up the women. As the men attempt to get the women aboard, threatening them with a shotgun, Kim shoots a second flare directly at Marcus, which ultimately results in his fiery death. Josh locks the recaptured women in one of the rooms below. Sean asks Josh to "call in" and request medical assistance for Bluey. However, knowing that Bluey still has the tape that contains footage of him dealing the earlier fatal blow, Josh instead decides to discover its whereabouts by torturing Bluey. He does this by withholding pain numbing drugs from him. Bluey reveals the location of the tape, beneath the bed in the state room, but fails to mention that he has already disclosed its location to Tammi, who (having escaped her cell) is roaming the boat trying to locate it. She does this just moments before Josh attempts to retrieve it. Unable to find the tape, Josh returns to Bluey, stepping up the torture by turning his attention to the knife which still protrudes from the wound. Josh ultimately takes this too far and, following Bluey's protestations that he has already revealed the location, he forces the knife further into the wound before pulling it out and ending Bluey's life.
Misinterpreting his intentions towards Tammi, Kim brutally kills Sean with the propeller of an outboard motor
. Feelings of guilt force her to jump overboard, leaving Josh and Tammi as the only remaining individuals of the group. A distraught Tammi decides that she cannot remain on the boat any longer. Josh agrees, and readies the tender. His plan is to leave the yacht, get back to shore and claim that there was an accident. As Josh pushes the tender away from the yacht, Tammi quietly takes hold of the end of the mooring rope at the stern. Once the tender has floated some distance from the yacht, Josh pulls his hunting knife from his shorts and points it at Tammi. He demands the incriminating tape from Tammi and, fearing for her life, she obliges, throwing it on the floor of the tender. As a distracted Josh reaches for the tape, Tammi seizes the opportunity to place the looped end of the mooring rope around his neck. The rope immediately reaches the end of its tether and Josh is wrenched from the tender. There is an audible snap from his neck as this happens. Tammi, the sole survivor, fires a flare into the air in hopes of being rescued.
as of 22 January, 2010.
Xan Brooks reviewed the film for The Guardian
and described them as "expertly made and painfully tense; a bracing cold snap blowing in off the ocean."
The Philadelphia Weekly
review called the film "an odious little potboiler". Although it failed to stir up much controversy in the British press, Amanda Platell
described the film, in The Daily Mail, as "a morally bankrupt tale of teenage group sex, violence, drugs and sadism which left me sickened to the core" concluding that it was "quite simply, the most distasteful, depraved and nihilistic film I have ever had the misfortune to sit through. I freely confess that there were times I felt physically ill simply watching it."
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
on holiday in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
who end up fighting for their lives. The film was written and directed by Oliver Blackburn and David Bloom, and stars Nichola Burley
Nichola Burley
Nichola Ann Burley is an English actress best known for her roles in Born Equal, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Goldplated, Donkey Punch and Carly in StreetDance 3D.-Early life:...
, Tom Burke
Tom Burke (actor)
Tom Liam Benedict Burke is an English actor.-Early life:Born on 30 June 1981; Kent, England), he is the son of actor David Burke and actress Anna Calder-Marshall...
, Jaime Winstone and Julian Morris
Julian Morris (actor)
Julian David Morris is a British actor known for his roles in the films Cry Wolf and Sorority Row. He also played a recurring character in the TV show ER as Dr. Andrew Wade. He also plays Wren Kim in the TV show Pretty Little Liars.-Career:Morris was born in London, where he began acting at the...
.
Plot
Three women Lisa (Sian Breckin), Kim (Jaime Winstone) and Tammi (Nichola Burley) while spending a holiday in MallorcaMallorca
Majorca or Mallorca is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea, one of the Balearic Islands.The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Cabrera Archipelago is administratively grouped with Majorca...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
meet four young men, Bluey (Tom Burke), Josh (Julian Morris), Sean (Robert Boulter) and Marcus (Jay Taylor), who invite them to their yacht and take the girls out to sea. While they are out at sea they take drugs, the conversation turns to sex and in particular, types of sexual acts. One of the men describes a sex act called a "donkey punch
Donkey punch
Donkey punch is slang term for an apocryphal and potentially lethal sexual practice supposedly performed during anal or vaginal sex. The purported practice involves the penetrating partner punching the receiving partner in the back of the head or neck...
" which involves punching the female in the back of the head while having "doggy-style" sex in order to increase the sexual pleasure for the man.
Marcus, Bluey, Kim and Lisa go below where they begin having drug fuelled sex, watched by Josh who, in the knowledge of all involved, lingers furtively in the darkness. Bluey, who is copulating with Lisa, asks Josh to film the action and then decides to let Josh take a turn. Josh and Lisa then have Anal sex
Anal sex
Anal sex is the sex act in which the penis is inserted into the anus of a sexual partner. The term can also include other sexual acts involving the anus, including pegging, anilingus , fingering, and object insertion.Common misconception describes anal sex as practiced almost exclusively by gay men...
. Immediately prior to ejaculation and with Bluey's encouragement, Josh administers a donkey punch with a hammer to Lisa but uses excessive force, breaking her neck and killing her. To cover up the incident, the men decide to throw the body overboard while the women want to report it to the authorities, and argument ensues about what to do with the tape. Bluey insults Tammi and in a fit of rage, she stabs and wounds him, and the women escape in the yacht's tender
Ship's tender
A ship's tender, usually referred to as a tender, is a boat, or a larger ship used to service a ship, generally by transporting people and/or supplies to and from shore or another ship...
. However, the girls soon realise that the tender's outboard motor is missing (a cut scene shows it still attached to the yacht). In a fit of despair, Tammi fires a flare, attracting the attention of the men. They quickly locate and pick up the women. As the men attempt to get the women aboard, threatening them with a shotgun, Kim shoots a second flare directly at Marcus, which ultimately results in his fiery death. Josh locks the recaptured women in one of the rooms below. Sean asks Josh to "call in" and request medical assistance for Bluey. However, knowing that Bluey still has the tape that contains footage of him dealing the earlier fatal blow, Josh instead decides to discover its whereabouts by torturing Bluey. He does this by withholding pain numbing drugs from him. Bluey reveals the location of the tape, beneath the bed in the state room, but fails to mention that he has already disclosed its location to Tammi, who (having escaped her cell) is roaming the boat trying to locate it. She does this just moments before Josh attempts to retrieve it. Unable to find the tape, Josh returns to Bluey, stepping up the torture by turning his attention to the knife which still protrudes from the wound. Josh ultimately takes this too far and, following Bluey's protestations that he has already revealed the location, he forces the knife further into the wound before pulling it out and ending Bluey's life.
Misinterpreting his intentions towards Tammi, Kim brutally kills Sean with the propeller of an outboard motor
Outboard motor
An outboard motor is a propulsion system for boats, consisting of a self-contained unit that includes engine, gearbox and propeller or jet drive, designed to be affixed to the outside of the transom and are the most common motorized method of propelling small watercraft...
. Feelings of guilt force her to jump overboard, leaving Josh and Tammi as the only remaining individuals of the group. A distraught Tammi decides that she cannot remain on the boat any longer. Josh agrees, and readies the tender. His plan is to leave the yacht, get back to shore and claim that there was an accident. As Josh pushes the tender away from the yacht, Tammi quietly takes hold of the end of the mooring rope at the stern. Once the tender has floated some distance from the yacht, Josh pulls his hunting knife from his shorts and points it at Tammi. He demands the incriminating tape from Tammi and, fearing for her life, she obliges, throwing it on the floor of the tender. As a distracted Josh reaches for the tape, Tammi seizes the opportunity to place the looped end of the mooring rope around his neck. The rope immediately reaches the end of its tether and Josh is wrenched from the tender. There is an audible snap from his neck as this happens. Tammi, the sole survivor, fires a flare into the air in hopes of being rescued.
Cast
- Robert Boulter as Sean
- Sian Breckin as Lisa
- Tom BurkeTom Burke (actor)Tom Liam Benedict Burke is an English actor.-Early life:Born on 30 June 1981; Kent, England), he is the son of actor David Burke and actress Anna Calder-Marshall...
as Bluey - Nichola BurleyNichola BurleyNichola Ann Burley is an English actress best known for her roles in Born Equal, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Goldplated, Donkey Punch and Carly in StreetDance 3D.-Early life:...
as Tammi - Julian MorrisJulian Morris (actor)Julian David Morris is a British actor known for his roles in the films Cry Wolf and Sorority Row. He also played a recurring character in the TV show ER as Dr. Andrew Wade. He also plays Wren Kim in the TV show Pretty Little Liars.-Career:Morris was born in London, where he began acting at the...
as Josh - Jay Taylor as Marcus
- Jaime Winstone as Kim
Production
The movie was filmed in 3 weeks with a budget of £500,000.Reception
The movie has a 49% approval rating from Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
as of 22 January, 2010.
Xan Brooks reviewed the film for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and described them as "expertly made and painfully tense; a bracing cold snap blowing in off the ocean."
The Philadelphia Weekly
Philadelphia Weekly
Philadelphia Weekly , is an award-winning alternative newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, published every Wednesday.The paper was founded in 1971 as a sister publication to the South Philadelphia Press. In 1995, the paper became Philadelphia Weekly...
review called the film "an odious little potboiler". Although it failed to stir up much controversy in the British press, Amanda Platell
Amanda Platell
Amanda Jane Platell is a British-based Australian journalist, and from 1999 to 2001 was the press secretary to William Hague, the then leader of the British Conservative Party.-Early life:...
described the film, in The Daily Mail, as "a morally bankrupt tale of teenage group sex, violence, drugs and sadism which left me sickened to the core" concluding that it was "quite simply, the most distasteful, depraved and nihilistic film I have ever had the misfortune to sit through. I freely confess that there were times I felt physically ill simply watching it."