Cast: Aml Ameen, Noel Clarke
Director: Menhaj Huda
To make one thing clear: I liked the movie. It kept me awake and never bored me. I was always expecting the next scene and I was never disappointed. Just a small detail: my advice is if you’re not native English speaker (even if you are) it might be a good idea to use subtitles for this one.
Now to get a bit into it: The movie gives us a glimpse of what the life is like for a group of 15-year olds living in contemporary West-London. The action happens throughout a couple of days, however for people living a normal life, the stuff that these kids go through, happens maybe in more than a life time. Constantly surrounded by drugs, crime and violence they all give into temptations and don’t really try to escape in any way. You might even regard them as ignorant and complacent. They seem to have everything they need and even more (life in a modern country, love of their family, financial stability and … gadgets) so nothing really stops them from trying to do more then just drugs, (unsafe) sex and fighting. Anyone can do that stuff…it’s not cool anymore. So in my book these kids are of not a very high value and I don’t sympathise. If life is so hard in London, why don’t they take their “allowed into any country with no visa” British passport and just go somewhere else and live the easy life, or try to achieve something, or just don’t complain … I just felt I had to say this.
On the other hand however, as the story unfolds and the drama builds up you discover the artistic value of the picture in combination with the sound track and the succeeding events. I declare myself as a fan of the director and can wait for a different subject that he wishes to paint in moving pictures. So all in all I would say this is an achievement and would give it a thumbs up anytime.
Watch trailer:
Popularity: 92% [?]