Small City

Absolutely brilliant film Definitely under rated and watched.

The performances were so real that couldn't imagine they were actors.

A hard watch but worth it.

Now that was an intense 74 minutes! Small City takes you on a mad ride through the alleys, stairwells and bedsits of London as Ozzy attempts to rescue Zia. There's violence but there's also tenderness in this story that doesn't follow the typical cliches of so many films that depict inner city London. A brilliant debut film and I look forward to seeing what these guys make next.

This film, the debut by UK directing duo Vilanova and Curran, treads a slightly unusual path through fairly well-worn subject matter which elevates it beyond your average UK "street" film.

Any hint of glamour to the street life is completely stripped away, and in style Small City has more of a documentary feel to it, coming across as a grittier version of Stephen Frear's acclaimed "Dirty Little Things", with echoes of the Safdie brothers (I'm thinking "Good Time").

The protagonists are richly painted, particularly in their tangible hopelessness as the film draws to its inevitably violent conclusion. Despite the generally depressing tone, there is the odd light note - as Ozzy jokes he's left London twice in his life, and once was to go to jail - and as a Londoner the films comes across as undoubtedly authentic, perhaps uncomfortably so

I genuinely hope this movie finds the audience it deserves as it compares very favourably to well-received recent UK fare such as "Blue Story".

Ozzy (Eddie Thompson), a young East End hustler, and a beautiful, yet naïve eastern european drug mule Zia (Isabella Nefar) forge an unlikely alliance following a brutal, life altering incident with his vicious gangster boss. A far from routine exercise in urban angst, Small City cannily avoids most of the expected inner City Chav-fest clichés. The dark and moody themes of underworld brutality, and bloody catharcis are excitingly expressed in a vibrant manner. Palpably big-hearted, Small City is a blunt, smart, refreshingly humanist darksided drama. The two disparate, increasingly desperate runaways, forced on the lam by Ozzy's protective instincts make for enormously sympathetic protagonists, and their appealingly open, natural performances allow for genuine sympathy. Small City is an electric urban thriller, replete with shockingly violent interludes, yet remaining a compellingly intimate, panther paced story of two dispossessed young people who find one another in the direst of circumstances.

When you have watched 10 minutes into the film and realize that you have not been able to discern any meaningful dialog at all, that says something for the sound quality of the movie. They mumble their dialog while uttering a low-class gang-style British accent. A better sound quality may have enhanced the ratings for the film.