Kamran Dastoury

Riff Raff (2024) drops you right in the middle of Kamran Dastoury’s wild cinematic playground, where nothing feels safe and everyone’s got something to hide. The story unfolds in a weird, electric underbelly of a city that feels like it’s perpetually stuck at 3AM—neon lights, rain-slick sidewalks, the whole noir vibe cranked to eleven. You’re following characters who are basically trying to out-grift each other, hustling through a maze of shady deals and double-crosses. Nobody’s truly innocent, and honestly, half the fun is figuring out who’s lying the least. The main character—yeah, they’ve got a chip on their shoulder the size of a city block. They’re clawing their way up from the gutter, dodging crooked cops and even more crooked criminals. Every conversation drips with tension, like everyone’s waiting for the other shoe (or maybe a loaded pistol) to drop. There’s an energy to the dialogue that’s sharp, sometimes hilarious in its bleakness, and you can tell Dastoury just loves making you squirm with discomfort. And don’t even get started on the visuals—gritty, grimy, but also weirdly gorgeous. It’s not just style for the sake of style, though. The look of the film really sells the sense that this world chews people up and spits them out. By the end, you’re left wondering who really won, or if anyone did at all. Riff Raff is a gritty, punchy, and sometimes downright cynical ride through a world where trust is just another thing to sell.