Kidulthood (2006)

Director:

Menhaj Huda

Writer:

Noel Clarke (written by)

Release Date:

3 March 2006 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Before adulthood comes...

Plot:

A day in the life of a group of troubled 15-year-olds growing up in west London. |

Plot Keywords:

Growing Up | Cigarette Smoking | Stealing | Teenage Sex | Child Suicide

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Aml Ameen	...	Trife
Red Madrell	...	Alisa
Noel Clarke	...	Sam
Adam Deacon	...	Jay
Jaime Winstone	...	Becky
Femi Oyeniran	...	Moony
Madeleine Fairley	...	Claire
Rebecca Martin	...	Katie
Nicholas Hoult	...	Blake
Adem Bayram	...	Vinnie
Stephanie Di Rubbo	...	Shaneek (as Stefanie Di Rubbo)
Kate-Line Okoro	...	Carleen
Medhavi Patel	...	Sophie
Ben McKay	...	Rapper
Cornell John	...	Uncle Curtis

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive language, violent content, sexual material, drug and alcohol use - all involving teens.

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

UK:15 | Ireland:18 | Australia:MA | New Zealand:R18 | Finland:K-15 | Portugal:M/16 | Germany:16 | USA:R | Norway:15 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Ladbroke Grove Underground Station, Notting Hill, London, England, UK

Company:

Stealth Films

Trivia:

The CD case that Becky racks out lines of cocaine on is "Out Of The Ghetto" by Isaac Hayes. She uses a Slipknot branded Visa card to cut them.

Quotes:

Shop Assistant: [Very feminine voice] Congratulations! My wife is pregnant too.
Becky: Wife? I thought you were a batty-man.
Shop Assistant: Excuse me?
Becky: Aren't you gay?
Shop Assistant: No.
Becky: There's nothing wrong with it.
Shop Assistant: I know. I'm just saying...
Becky: Alright, calm down, yankee.
Shop Assistant: I'm CANADIAN.
Becky: Same thing!

Movie Connections:

Features The House of the Dead III (2003) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Water Torture

Well-made and intriguing but a rather downbeat film

STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits

When a girl who has suffered horrific bullying at school commits suicide, it leaves 15 year old Trife (Aml Ameen) and his two friends with the day off school. Trife starts the day by learning the unwanted news that his on-off girlfriend is pregnant and the baby might be his. Frustrated at hearing this, he sets off with his friends and embarks on a day of increasingly dangerous mischief. Juxtaposed with their story is that of his girlfriend, her qualms about keeping her baby and her moral free mate willing to do anything to score money and drugs. Their paths are set to collide and result in a devastating climax.

Kidulthood has that look and feel of a film out to shock (it managed a 15 certificate, but it must have only just scraped it!) If it's painting a picture of what life is really like for chavvy kids like this living on housing estates in inner-city areas, then the film manages to leave an even more downbeat and depressing taste in the mouth than it already did. It's well-acted enough, with a good lead in Ameen (who I recognized as Officer Lewis from The Bill-wouldn't have thought he'd come off as a 15 year old though) and a decent supporting cast, including an attractive presence in Madeleine Fairley (but, what can I say, a chavette's a chavvete!) It has a fine soundtrack, too, including some notable work from Mike Skinner and The Streets. It's far from a bad film, as it is, too, it's just so relentlessly bleak and with little in the way of humour and light that it never manages to come off as a truly enjoyable experience in any way. Still, it delivers what it says and more. ****