British-Nigerian film-maker Shola Amoo's 2019 debut feature works for me very much as a 'trinity' of film. The 'middle' (and, significantly, the longest) segment treads a very familiar path of urban gangland tribalism, as the young boy Femi, recently relocated from a leafy countryside life with his foster mother to his biological mother's inner London home, finds his maturing teenage self being caught up in the local gang culture. Bookending this familiar set-up, however, Amoo gives us a more inventive narrative, Femi's early rural existence being embraced naturally by the young, boisterous boy (given a jolt as he is translocated to Gbemisola Ikumelo's seemingly cruel and unloving mother's (Yinka) home), and Femi's search for identity culminates (at his mother's instigation) in a trip to his ancestral African home. The young man's journey has thus come full circle. Even though the bulk of writer-director Amoo's drama has been done many times before - too many to list for TV with Top Boy perhaps providing the most impressive example - the film-maker has a distinctive visual style using slo-mo, impressive use of light and dream sequences (letting us getting inside Femi's imagination). Indeed, the film's three-part structure and its visual qualities at times reminded me of Barry Jenkins' masterpiece, Moonlight (and you can't get higher praise than that!).
Amoo's cast is consistently impressive throughout. One of the film's biggest 'problems' is the casting of Sam Adewunmi (good though the actor is) as the teenage Femi (Adewunmi being around 23/24 at the time!). On the other hand, Tai Golding's depiction of the younger Femi and Ikumelo's turn as Femi's mother are particularly empathetic, whilst Nicholas Pinnock (from the aforementioned Top Boy) is also good as Femi's teacher and mentor, Mr Williams. I found that the film became increasingly engaging as it proceeded. There was the odd narrative jolt - the 'jump forward' from the infant Femi to the teenage Femi, now seemingly an established veteran of the local gang scene could perhaps have done with a more gradual transition. On the other hand, a thread which I thought was underdeveloped was that involving Femi and Ruthxjiah Bellenea's blue-haired, fellow pupil, Tope - the sequence where they share their love of music (The Cure) was, for me, the absolute highlight of the film. That said, Amoo's closing sequence was also outstanding and marks the film-maker out as one to watch.
Amoo's cast is consistently impressive throughout. One of the film's biggest 'problems' is the casting of Sam Adewunmi (good though the actor is) as the teenage Femi (Adewunmi being around 23/24 at the time!). On the other hand, Tai Golding's depiction of the younger Femi and Ikumelo's turn as Femi's mother are particularly empathetic, whilst Nicholas Pinnock (from the aforementioned Top Boy) is also good as Femi's teacher and mentor, Mr Williams. I found that the film became increasingly engaging as it proceeded. There was the odd narrative jolt - the 'jump forward' from the infant Femi to the teenage Femi, now seemingly an established veteran of the local gang scene could perhaps have done with a more gradual transition. On the other hand, a thread which I thought was underdeveloped was that involving Femi and Ruthxjiah Bellenea's blue-haired, fellow pupil, Tope - the sequence where they share their love of music (The Cure) was, for me, the absolute highlight of the film. That said, Amoo's closing sequence was also outstanding and marks the film-maker out as one to watch.