STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits

When a girl who has suffered horrific bullying at school commits suicide, it leaves 15 year old Trife (Aml Ameen) and his two friends with the day off school. Trife starts the day by learning the unwanted news that his on-off girlfriend is pregnant and the baby might be his. Frustrated at hearing this, he sets off with his friends and embarks on a day of increasingly dangerous mischief. Juxtaposed with their story is that of his girlfriend, her qualms about keeping her baby and her moral free mate willing to do anything to score money and drugs. Their paths are set to collide and result in a devastating climax.

Kidulthood has that look and feel of a film out to shock (it managed a 15 certificate, but it must have only just scraped it!) If it's painting a picture of what life is really like for chavvy kids like this living on housing estates in inner-city areas, then the film manages to leave an even more downbeat and depressing taste in the mouth than it already did. It's well-acted enough, with a good lead in Ameen (who I recognized as Officer Lewis from The Bill-wouldn't have thought he'd come off as a 15 year old though) and a decent supporting cast, including an attractive presence in Madeleine Fairley (but, what can I say, a chavette's a chavvete!) It has a fine soundtrack, too, including some notable work from Mike Skinner and The Streets. It's far from a bad film, as it is, too, it's just so relentlessly bleak and with little in the way of humour and light that it never manages to come off as a truly enjoyable experience in any way. Still, it delivers what it says and more. ****

I have seen a bundle to Brit flicks that show a hyped by stylish glamorised side of London . Should be Lock Stock , or Snatch , or maybe even Notting Hill these movies have always shown the romantic side of London . However that Ladies and Gents is only the sugar coated topping , there is another world underneath that what is known to most of us who grew up on the streets of London as the real world . The director of Kidulthood does a masterful job giving us a vision of the urban hell-hole that we have all come to know ! The social issues that are highlighted in this film are spot on , whether it be the drug abuse , teenage pregnancies or the ever looming threat of the gang culture with the idiotic craze which is known as Happy slapping .We have all read about , seen it and, probably worst experienced it . Kidulthood presents to the viewer a true , grim , depiction of a life a 15 year old black teenager Trife and his life growing up in the tough neighbourhood and school where words come cheap .We are taken into his world for just 1 day and meet a whole host of characters who fit into the doomed path of life probably just like Trife . The acting was over the top brilliant to the point where to me personally it felt that it was not a film but you were watching someone's life unfold in front of you as the director chose's location's that were truly urban nitty and gritty to the point that you don't need to marvel at the breath taking scenery , you just want to focus as the story rolls along . I'm not a huge fan of Uk hip-hop but this time it seemed to fit in and add to the flavour of the film . The only drawback was that it was a little to over hyped and once or twice it did feel a bit unrealistic in some places but it stood on track and the humour was pretty funny in places as well especially with the white hoody guy. In general Kidulthood is a deep , dark , depressing look on the darker side of London's youth and by looking at it one will walk away probably wanting to take a look back at his life and see where is his or her future heading for . Kidulthood is highly recommended film by not only my-self but several other movie lovers and I shall very likely purchase this when it hits the DVD'S.

KIDULTHOOD SCORES : 8 OUT 10 FOR NOW THIS IS THE SHADOWMAN WISHING YOU ALL GOOD LUCK AND GOOD NIGHT .

Coming across like a low-budget, British, and younger variant on PULP FICTION, KIDULTHOOD is a film that skilfully weaves a number of sub-plots involving different characters together, all set over a short time frame of just 24 hours. It's an astonishing film and one that isn't for the faint of heart. Forget the nostalgic London seen in the likes of NOTTING HILL; instead experience a world of casual violence, casual sex, and casual drugs, where explicit sexual situations, explicit language, and explicit violence are present in spades. What makes this film so affecting is its realism. It's filmed on real locations with a gritty look, and the whole cast are believable in their roles. Noel Clarke, the writer, is in his early 30s and yet I never would have guessed it; he plays a sixth-former here and he's utterly, scarily convincing. In the lead role, Aml Ameen is fantastic, creating a believable boy torn between good and evil, the latter personified in Uncle Curtis, one of the absolute hands-down most frightening people I've seen in a film.

The acting's excellent throughout, aside from the occasionally irritating Red Madrell as the female lead; director Menhaj Huda does some fantastic work with the budget, including great hand-held camera shots, and the occasional spurts of bloody violence (the Stanley knife bit, for instance) are totally shocking. What I loved most was how the story weaves around tragic events but does manage to have some hope in it, so it's not a totally depressing experience. Things culminate in a set-piece climax in which all of the simmering violence in the film suddenly explodes, and it doesn't disappoint. With humour, romance, thrills, and plenty of spills, KIDULTHOOD is a great little movie and one the British can be proud of, even if it does make for uncomfortable viewing.