The movie
Rocks
British Nigerian teen who is both; the leader of a group of school girls in East London and the de-facto mother to her little brother. A film about growing up and friendship.
Length: 93 min
Country: UK
Language spoken: English
Language subtitles: Dutch
Cast: Bukky Bakray, Kosar Ali, D'angelou Osei Kissiedu, Shaneigha-Monik Greyson
Director: Sarah Gavron
Release date: 2019
Description
Newcomer Bukky Bakray is simply terrific as the eponymous heroine of Sarah Gavron’s social-realist drama. She plays a British Nigerian teen who is both the leader of a group of school girls in East London and the de-facto mother to her little brother, Emmanuel (D’angelou Osei Kissiedu, himself a brilliant natural). With their dad having died and their mom in the grip of addiction, things are tough at home. And then mom disappears… Gavron spent a year looking for non-actors to fill the roles and then had screenwriters Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson tailor the script to the girls’ experiences. The result positively vibrates with a sense of immediacy and truth.
‘[A] five-star triumph… With its energy, its creativity, its raw passion and its fun, this film and its newcomer cast are the best thing I’ve seen at this year’s [2019] Toronto film festival… The group around Rocks are capable, in the best possible way, of laughing about nothing, laughing from sheer directionless joy. The sadness, when it comes, is piercing—yet so is Rocks’s resilience and her philosophical acceptance…’—Peter Bradshaw, Guardian
‘[A] five-star triumph… With its energy, its creativity, its raw passion and its fun, this film and its newcomer cast are the best thing I’ve seen at this year’s [2019] Toronto film festival… The group around Rocks are capable, in the best possible way, of laughing about nothing, laughing from sheer directionless joy. The sadness, when it comes, is piercing—yet so is Rocks’s resilience and her philosophical acceptance…’—Peter Bradshaw, Guardian
