Everywhere and Nowhere

Menhaj Huda kicked off the kids-behaving-badly grime genre with his debut ‘Kidulthood’. His second film is less catchy, a more thoughtful if overwrought coming-of-age drama, centred around a group of young British Asian Londoners.

James Floyd gives a career-making performance as student Ash, who essentially leads a double life: traditional Muslim at home, accountancy degree, working part-time in the family shop. Really, he wants to be a DJ. His sister and mates tell him to stop struggling with the conflict – ‘It’s our lot; we were born into it.’ He thinks they’re a bunch of hypocrites.

In the script are some frank and unshrinking observations: homophobia and misogyny among some British Asians. One guy is furious when he spots his sister at a party. Isn’t he there himself? ‘It’s different.’ Plus there’s racial stereotyping by white Brits: Ash arriving at a party is mistaken for a taxi driver. But Huda contrives to fit in as many issues with a capital ‘I’ as possible (a gay Asian married off, a cousin recruited by Muslim radicals) overburdening his film and tipping it into melodramatic soap opera.