STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
In the 1960s and 70s, poor Nigerian families would loan their children to British couples while they went away to try and attain a better life. Ingrid (Kate Beckinsale) and her husband are one such couple, taking in Enitan (Damson Idris), from Femi (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and his wife, who struggles to blend in. As a young man in the early 1980s, he has difficulty coming to terms with his own identity, and after a run in with Levi (John Dagleish) and his gang of skinheads, descends into a downward spiral of destruction that threatens to rip everything apart.
With the rise of racist ideology rising back up in society at the moment, what could now be seen as a period piece in the shape of the early 1980s, serves as a fitting template to set a story, at a time when it was a lot more blatant and uncensored. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, a rising star after last year's Dark Money (despite having an unpronounceable name!), here showcases his writing and directing debut, as well as providing an integral supporting role, in a tale he probably had some first hand experience of.
It's a startling practice, that I like probably many others, wasn't aware went on, and it certainly provides riveting potential for some powerful drama. Lead star Idris has an effective presence, and delivers a strong performance, with some reliable, sturdy support from the likes of Beckinsale, Dagleish, and of course Agbaje himself. And there's some suitably unsettling depictions of racist violence that get under your skin. Sadly, it's all executed in a completely uninvolving and ineffective manner, never getting you to feel for any of these characters, or flesh them out in any meaningful way.
Agbaje obviously has a passion for film, and depicting accounts of racial aggravation/tension in his adopted home. Hopefully, this is just a little blip on the path to something greater. **
In the 1960s and 70s, poor Nigerian families would loan their children to British couples while they went away to try and attain a better life. Ingrid (Kate Beckinsale) and her husband are one such couple, taking in Enitan (Damson Idris), from Femi (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and his wife, who struggles to blend in. As a young man in the early 1980s, he has difficulty coming to terms with his own identity, and after a run in with Levi (John Dagleish) and his gang of skinheads, descends into a downward spiral of destruction that threatens to rip everything apart.
With the rise of racist ideology rising back up in society at the moment, what could now be seen as a period piece in the shape of the early 1980s, serves as a fitting template to set a story, at a time when it was a lot more blatant and uncensored. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, a rising star after last year's Dark Money (despite having an unpronounceable name!), here showcases his writing and directing debut, as well as providing an integral supporting role, in a tale he probably had some first hand experience of.
It's a startling practice, that I like probably many others, wasn't aware went on, and it certainly provides riveting potential for some powerful drama. Lead star Idris has an effective presence, and delivers a strong performance, with some reliable, sturdy support from the likes of Beckinsale, Dagleish, and of course Agbaje himself. And there's some suitably unsettling depictions of racist violence that get under your skin. Sadly, it's all executed in a completely uninvolving and ineffective manner, never getting you to feel for any of these characters, or flesh them out in any meaningful way.
Agbaje obviously has a passion for film, and depicting accounts of racial aggravation/tension in his adopted home. Hopefully, this is just a little blip on the path to something greater. **