Sket

Lurid inner-city street gang films are ten a penny these days, but this one from up-and-coming talent Nirpal Bhogal offers a fresh, insightful spin on a tired formula. Kayla (Aimee Kelly) is a fragile 16 year old who’s been torn away from her peers in Newcastle to join her older, wiser sister in London. She’s recruited by a hard-as-nails, all-girl street gang, and it’s not long before she’s furnishing lead-pipe-flavoured justice to a local rapist. Bhogal cites TV series ‘The Wire’ and film ‘Harry Brown’ as inspirations behind ‘Sket’, and while his film displays the rich, conflicted characters of the former, it thankfully abstains from the crude, isn’t-this-country-going-to-the-knackers-yard speechifying of the latter. His first big tick is awarded for understatement: the dialogue is sparse but engaging, and he’s not afraid to let glances and silences tell the story. Secondly, it’s a film of real substance that shows a timely interest in how and why gangs materialise.