Beats

Beats

This was a very carefully crafted movie, on the face of it is was just about two close friends growing up in 1994 on the wrong side of the tracks. When the parents of one child move away to a more affluent area the boys decide to have one last adventure and go "large" before they go down different paths.

However the writer and director want to say so much more beyond this simple idea and this is the brilliance of this movie. It explored:

1, the deprivation created by de-industrialisation following the Thatcher years and the time of new labour.

2, the nature of friendship and peer pressure.

3, social mobility of children within the UK and familial support needed to progress.

4, disaffection with society in poverty and the search for escape.

The key achievement of this movie was its capturing of 1994 in a northern town. I loved it.