Kidulthood (2006)

Instant Favorite.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Absolutely Fantastic

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Noel Clarke writes and stars in Kidulthood. After the suicide of a young schoolgirl bullied at school and harassed by Sam (Clarke.) The students are given time off school the next day to mourn.We follow the youths as they criss cross each other throughout the day. There is casual bullying, drug taking, stealing and sex.Sam is riled when a group of lads break into his house and goes out looking for revenge. However one of the lad's has an uncle who is a vicious gangster, a plot strand that will develop later in the trilogy.Kidulthood is a low budget gritty look at inner city London but it is also a look at life of young people that is becoming cliched as red London buses and city types wearing bowler hats.Clarke's writing is raw but it does have an energy to it. However some of the characters look too old to be at school and too many of them are just nasty all the time, so you really do not care about them.

Kidulthood is another film that makes people want to see it, by advertising a star that's in it for all of five minutes, Nick Hoult of Skins, About A Boy, and X-Men fame. He's the reason I gave this film a chance, because honestly, the plot isn't really something that interests me. This film is so far out there and so strange, that I can't even tell you what it's about! A bullied girl in a London high school kills herself and the kids get time off from school. After that the story splinters into a million different pieces of kids running wild in the streets of London and most of it makes absolutely no sense. Kidulthood tries to become the British version of Boyz In The Hood, but completely fails. The British gangstas, aren't exactly gangsta, and things move so unbelievably fast that it's impossible to keep track of who is who and who is doing what. To sum it all up, there's no real plot, meaning there isn't much of a point to this movie. There are also far too many characters, many of whom look a like, and very few that can actually act worth a damn. Kidulthood is one big blur of violence and F-bombs without a theme, a plot, or a point. This is just another example of a movie that tries to attract people with foul language, unnecessary violence, and a marquis name that barely makes a cameo. It's a complete waste of two hours!

This drama film about London youths is bleak, depressing, violent, shocking and simultaneously deep, stylish and witty. Much like the characters portrayed in the film, you think you what is going on and that you've seen it all before. The greatest strength of the film is not letting you down in that respect by delivering what you expect whilst at the same time, providing a bit more dimension and depth than you'd expect.When a girl at at a West London school kills herself because of bullying, the students are given a day off for mourning and this film is about that 24 hour period. Needless to say, there is not much mourning done by the principle characters as they prepare for a house party in the evening and on the way they drink, do drugs, rob, flirt and do sexy things.Without wishing to sounds like the old man I'm not, considering the film follows the exploits of these characters and they are meant to be around 15 years old, they do a lot of dubious and highly illegal activities. However, as I mentioned earlier, whilst you initially see the characters and judge them instantly as hoodies/thugs etc, throughout the film it is made clear that everyone has a surprisingly deep character, something which I started to notice more and more as the film went on.The tone of the film is pretty unrelenting though in its approaches of violence and revenge, something which may be in place to put the viewers in a similar state of mind as the characters. However, the effect of all this is that film operates mostly as a diary of single events with not much narrative driving each event. It ends up being 'meet up - flirt with lady - rob short - beat up man' without a consistent narrative drive linking each event together.That being said, the film is remarkably well acted and directed. A directorial style is present which propels the film along and keeps the various characters and their stories linked together. Add to this a fiery soundtrack of UK rap (Dizzee rascal et al.) and you have a style of film that adds onto the power of the events themselves.All in all, a potent and thought provoking look at inner city London.

I was lucky to catch this on BBC Three a couple of weeks ago... it was worth it! The writing can go from funny and menace and then to sorrow and sadness. It packs-a-punch. The three best performances of the film are from Aml Ameen (Trife), Jaime Winstone (Becky) and the writer himself, Noel Clarke (Sam). Ameen's character goes through a range of different emotions throughout the whole film, and Ameen does well to capture this. Winstone is brilliant as a girl who does not know how to respect her body and Clarke gives a menacing performance as the school bully. The rest of the cast led by newcomers Adam Deacon, Femi Oyeniran, Cornell John and Red Madrell, but also contains some famous faces (Rafe Spall, Nicholas Hoult, ex-CBBC presenter and presenter of The Gadget Show, Ortis Deley and John Simm's wife, Kate McGowan) is a brilliant cast that is full of different actors from different backgrounds, which is what makes Kidulthood stand out... because it has diversity! Kidulthood is a harrowing look at the lives of young children in the UK and what they go through. You will not regret this.