To give a better future to his son, Chad Cutler tries to get out of the criminal business which his family has run for generations. However, his own father Colby considers doing so a betrayal, making the task of leaving a well-rooted criminal system an uneasy one. The film opens to the traveler Cutler family living in their squalid campers in northern England. They stage a police chase in honor of their late brother Bryan. Chad is approached by his father Colby in relation to a Sunday night robbery which he opposes due to the unnecessary risk involved. Chad's wife Kelly wants him to stand up to his more aggressive father. Chad wants a different life for his son Tyson but Colby demands respect for his authority and does not want to see Chad or Tyson leave. The robbery goes ahead and during the robbery the gang set fire to a nobleman's estate. In the escape Chad is forced to kill officer Lovage's police dog but manages to elude the police and their helicopter's heat camera, cunningly hiding under a heifer. Colby takes the children from the camp to school but later his wife wakes him to the news the children are missing. When the Colby family approach the police for help PC Lovage informs Colby's wife that if she informs on her husband and tells them where her husband really was the night of the robbery, they maybe able to help. It is later shown that the police already know where the children are as they are in their custody. The next day an armed response unit descend on the Cutler's family camp. The police damage all the campers and seize all livestock. Colby and Chad are interrogated by the police and the police learn that both men despise each other. Although the police know Chad and Colby are involved, they are forced to release both men due to a lack of evidence. Colby calls a family meeting and makes a demand for unity ahead of their next move. Meanwhile, Chad learn his father has forbidden Noah from selling a property to him and thereby blocking him from leaving the criminal life behind. To add to his woes, Chad learns that the local school has expelled his children. Chad and his wife want to escape their current existence and start fresh. Chad goes to buy a puppy for his son for his 7th birthday. When Chad appears unable to complete the necessary paperwork, the puppy salesman refuses to sell him the dog. In anger Chad steals the puppy and escapes in the taxi which brought him to the house, driving it himself with the taxi driver as an unwilling passenger. The police now have a provable crime. Chad calls Colby to bring his son to the old oak tree. Chad and Tyson climb the tree where Chad gives his son the puppy and together they hold off the police. After giving Tyson some fatherly advice, Chad surrenders with words of love to his wife.
On 31 October 2013, it was announced that Michael Fassbender would be starring in the gangster film, titled Trespass Against Us, which Adam Smith would direct, based on the script by Alastair Siddons. Siddons would produce along with Gail Egan and Andrea Calderwood through Potboiler Productions. Film4 Productions would co-finance the film, whose score would be done by The Chemical Brothers. On 16 May 2014, more cast was announced including Brendan Gleeson, Sean Harris, Lyndsey Marshal, Rory Kinnear and Killian Scott. Filming began in June 2014 in the United Kingdom.
Release
On 16 May 2014, Lionsgate acquired the UK rights to the film. A24 Films acquired US rights to the film on 16 December 2014. The film was released in the United States on 24 November 2016, before opening in a limited release and through video on demand on 20 January 2017. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 3 March 2017.
Critical reception
Trespass Against Us received mixed reviews from critics. On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 57%, based on 70 reviews, with an average score of 5.68/10. The site's consensus reads, "Trespass Against Us benefits from Michael Fassbender and Brendan Gleeson's typically strong performances, even when they aren't quite enough to balance the story's narrative drift and awkward tonal shifts." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 50 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
