Essex Boys

Essex Boys is a 2000 British crime film. It was directed by Terry Winsor and stars Sean Bean, Alex Kingston, Tom Wilkinson, Charlie Creed-Miles and Holly Davidson.

Plot
The film is based loosely around events in December 1995 that culminated in the Rettendon murders of three drug dealers in Rettendon, Essex, UK.

Cast

 * Charlie Creed-Miles as Billy Reynolds/narrator
 * Sean Bean as Jason Locke
 * Gareth Milne as Chippy
 * Alex Kingston as Lisa Locke
 * Amelia Lowdell as Nicole
 * Larry Lamb as Peter Chase
 * Michael McKell as Wayne Lovell
 * Holly Davidson as Suzy Welch
 * Terence Rigby as Henry Hobbs
 * Tom Wilkinson as John Dyke
 * Billy Murray as Perry Elley
 * George Jackos as Kiri Christos
 * Sally Hurst as Beverley
 * Louise Landon as Jemma
 * Gary Love as Detective
 * Rachel Darling as Club dancer
 * Trevor Kirton as Man on street #1
 * Carl Smith as Man on street #2

Production
The film was shot on location around Essex. In particular Southend on Sea, Jaywick in Clacton and the Dartford Crossing, where the gang travels from Kent to Essex.

Reception
The film met with generally negative critical reviews, maintaining a 17% rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on six reviews.

It opened on 54 screens in the United Kingdom on 14 July 2000 and grossed £111,548 in its opening weekend, finishing ninth at the UK box office.

Similar films
The films Rise of the Footsoldier (2007), Bonded by Blood (2010), The Fall of the Essex Boys (2013) Essex Boys Retribution (2013) and Essex Boys Law of Survival (2015) and The Essex Boys Tapes (2024) are also based – to varying degrees – on the Rettendon murders.