The Pay Day is a heist caper, following frustrated IT technician Jennifer (Kyla Frye) as she struggles to make ends meet. When she receives a mysterious call from Gates (Simon Callow) giving her a location to meet him at for a job, she will soon find more than she bargained for.
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For an idea of the uncomfortable and awkward sexualised dynamic between The Pay Day’s leads, Jennifer and George (Sam Benjamin), one has to look no further than the bizarre lift ride they share during the middle of the heist they both find themselves on. As Jennifer is searching for the USB containing valuable information, George tells her to search him to find it. What follows is an attempt at sexual banter and physical comedy that permeates all of their scenes, and not in a good way. Any instance of repartee or flirtation between the pair comes off as forced, and as they both trade insults like children on the playground, something that was presumably meant to come off as fun instead comes off as a distraction to the otherwise meandering plot.
The Pay Day centres around Jennifer, who has just been unceremoniously fired from her job and is struggling to support her mum, and herself, in the face of increasing bills. She receives a call from a mysterious figure, inviting her to a location along with a passcode. When she goes to meet this figure, Gates, he gives her a job to steal valuable information that could expose corruption at a high level within the British government. She accepts the job, but as she runs into difficulties, she soon finds out there will be more to the job than she was told.
The series of troubles Jennifer runs into does nothing to make the plot any more engaging. At only ninety minutes, The Pay Day is a drawn-out endeavour that does not make the most of its location or situation. When complications arise, they feel baked in convenience rather than natural to the story progression. A glaring example of this is how Jennifer cannot be picked up from the job after completing it because her driver is having car troubles. Plot points designed to keep the protagonist in one location to increase tension should feel natural. The Pay Day, at every turn, feels unnatural. This is also felt in the clunky dialogue, which reiterates information, lacks subtlety, and falls flat in its attempts at humour. Characters blurt out what they are thinking at any one moment, resulting in a caper with initially intriguing characters quickly becoming dull.
This issue is further emphasised by a tone that hinders the performances of The Pay Day’s cast. The Pay Day initially presents itself as a serious heist story, albeit a deliberately and enjoyably campy one. The opening’s self-referential ode to heist films in the vein of Ocean’s 11 sets up the film well. It is all rather silly, but it feels like The Pay Day knows this, and leans into the absurdity with a gleeful smile on its face. Everything from the Bond-style phone call from Gates giving Jennifer a location to be at for a mission to Gates’ over-the-top British witticisms lends a fun parodic sense to The Pay Day. The sheer obviousness of the genre parallels to other heist films brings The Pay Day’s audience in on the fun.
However, as the attempted humour begins to creep in, The Pay Day finds itself caught in between two points. As a result, the viewer becomes distanced as they are less involved in the comedy. The Pay Day’s insistence on quippy dialogue distracts from the plot and prevents any tension from building in its more dramatic moments. Jennifer is meant to be an inexperienced criminal, so it makes sense that her story would feel messy, as she struggles under the mounting pressure of the job. But the jarring nature of the story does not come across as something deliberate. The Pay Day is confident in its tangential approach to story structure and seems content to take its time with its story, but this is more of a hindrance than maybe intended.
All of this culminates in an ending that leaves too many questions up in the air, wrapping up in an unsatisfying way that leans into the cheesy and already strained chemistry between its leads. As The Pay Day launches a series of callbacks to previous moments in the script, it feels like time stops and the actors on screen practically wink at the audience. It’s cute in a couple of instances, but the ending rushes to tie itself into a neat bow and is unfortunately not as clever as it thinks it is.
The Verdict
The Pay Day is a film that has glimmers of potential. When the stars align with its dialogue and character dynamics, there are instances of charm that breathe life into the film. However, these moments are too few and far between. We end without knowing these characters in any meaningful way. When The Pay Day halts its story dead for Jennifer and George to muse on the struggles of the working class and their shared economic woes, it reveals itself to be a story without substance. The Pay Day charges a high price to get on board with its story of high-stakes robbery and deceit, but it’s a ticket that for the most part is not worth that cost.
Words by James Evenden
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