This fun, vibrant drama about a young girl thrust into adulthood – led by a supercharged non-professional cast – bursts from the screen with creativity and passionFollow our countdown of the 50 best films of 2020The social-realist tag is so often the signal for something worthy and burdened with its own loyalty to grimness. Nothing could be further from the truth for this vibrant youth drama devised by Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson in collaboration with the mostly non-professional cast and directed by Sarah Gavron. It is bursting with vitality, creativity, passion and fun, and the young stars supercharge it with energy.
Newcomer Bukky Bakray plays an 11-year-old British-Nigerian girl in east
London nicknamed Rocks, who has a smart kid brother, Emmanuel (wonderfully played by another great child
Actor, D’angelou Osei Kissiedu). Their mum is well meaning but has, as her outreach worker delicately puts it, issues managing her medication. One day she vanishes, leaving a note to Rocks telling her it is now her responsibility to look after Emmanuel. In this moment, Rocks has been upgraded to parent status, carer status, mum status, leapfrogging what she might have hoped would be a carefree late-teen or early twentysomething period and straight into the careworn age of adulthood.