Rocks

Sarah Gavron's new film after Brick Lane (2017), (Suffragettes (2015), Rocks regains all the charm of the great British social dramatic comedies. By rediscovering all the strength of Ken Loach's films, Stephen Frears, director Sarah Gavron benefiting from the excellent screenplay by Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson offers us a true immersion in the British popular milieu.

We thus discover Shola (nicknamed Rocks), a 15-year-old teenager who lives with her little brother and their mother and who will have to face her mother's flight to not only manage her little brother but also find something to survive in a society in which ethnic minorities (Afro-British in this case) have difficulty finding their place.

Rocks shows once again that independent British cinema can be convincing and in the times. With a cast of up-and-coming actors, director Sarah Gavron anchors her film in a certain realism which makes the characters even more endearing. In a British society in which it is better to be rich and healthy, young Shola (Bukky Bakray) will not only have to rely on the help of her friends but also do everything possible to cope with her mother's absence and to protect her little brother.

It is easy to understand that this portrait of young people coming from a poor London background helps to show a more realistic and less touristic face of London. With an approach that will remind some people of that of a documentary, Rocks manages to keep us on the edge of our seats and to impose itself as one of this year's good surprises.

Rocks
Directed by Sarah Gavron
Produced by Ameenah Ayub Allen, Faye Ward
Written by Theresa Ikoko, Claire Wilson
Starring Bukky Bakray, Kosar Ali, D'angelou Osei Kissiedu
Music by Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch
Cinematography : Hélène Louvart
Edited by Maya Maffioli
Production companies: Fable Pictures, British Film Institute, Film 4, The Wellcome Trust
Release date: September 5, 2019 (Toronto), April 10 2020 (England), September 9 2020 (France)
Running time: 93 minutes

Seen on September 1st (press screener)

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