Paul Andrew Williams, the director of Bull, takes very little to move from an ordinary-looking British drama-thriller to something very bloody and disturbing. The plot, which begins with a man called Bull, played masterfly like always by Neil Maskell, returning to his old criminal crew. After ten years, he's simply seeking his son, but the method of his search mainly involves bladed weapons and murder.
In no time at all, the film descends into a mundane version of Crow, where a man is apparently back from the grave and ready to do almost anything to complete his self-assigned objective. Here, the film shines in the form of a strange crime thriller, where the main character is a somewhat melancholic psychotic murderer from hell.
Through a series of flashbacks, we see how Bull came to his predicament and what actually took place a decade before. The past is just as violent and detached as the present, apart from the fact that everyone agrees that Bull cannot be really alive. Here, the cast of Bull 2021 manages to do a lot with not that much, being that the film's locations are as exciting as a regular UK kitchen sink drama from the 1990s. Below all of that, we also witness Bull’s true and undying (literally) love for his son.
But, to watch Bull 2021 is, at least somewhat, to descend into a dark and unscrupulous place mixing crime and family in equal measure. The very end of the film introduces a weak horror twist which was completely unnecessary, but fortunately it doesn't manage to spoil the whole experience. Vengeance, no matter how desirable by the wronged individual, is pointless and brutal, says Bull 2021, but redemption can come nonetheless. Yet, it will not come from a blade or a gun, but from saving someone.
