Urchin follows Mike, a rough sleeper in East London, who is trapped in a cycle of self-destruction as he attempts to turn his life around. Premiering at Cannes to rave reviews and a Best Actor award for Frank Dillane, Urchin is an outstanding directorial debut from Harris Dickinson that marks him as an exciting new talent in British filmmaking.

The Garden Cinema View:

Harris Dickenson’s directorial debut plunges us into what looks, at first, like a classic piece of British Social Realism, albeit one set on very vibrant East London streets, akin to the New York of Safdie Brothers or early Sean Baker films. Then something happens, the film’s score kicks in for the first time, and we realise that Urchin is operating on an elevated level of expressionism; a bold, and broadly successful, effort to find poetry on the margins of London.

That this all holds together is due, in no small part, to Frank Dillane’s mesmerising, tender, and brittle central performance as Mike. This, combined with propulsive music and cinematography, results in arguably the finest London street life film since Mike Leigh’s Naked.  

Cast:
Frank Dillane, Megan Northam, Amr Waked, Harris Dickinson