William E. Badgley directs Viv Albertine, Palmolive and Tessa Pollitt in this documentary charting the struggles of all girl punk outfit The Slits.

If there is a more intriguing story behind The Slits troubled existence then this isn’t it. Self aggrandising at best, vague about the challenges faced and fractions within the band, more often than not. This ends up a lot of noise with nothing clear to say. The music is solid punk, the era specific footage makes the first half watchable. Once we are stuck with the most obnoxious members cashing in on their name for a reunion though, the second half is a large, hard slog. A good documentary might ask: Why did Island drop them from their label? Where was punk without them? Instead we essentially get an AV wake for a dead member whose positives are talked about in platitudes but rarely evidenced on film.

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