Sket

Found this a great portrayal of street life great to see women shown as strong not just the usual male gangs

A sket is a nasty girl, and this film is skettish.

This oestrogen and adrenaline fuelled female-Shank UK film is a girl hoody gang drama.

Capturing female youth gang culture the film is low budget and aspiring to Noel Clarke films (Kidulthood, Shank, 4321 etc) but falls way short, being an awful ITV drama escapade.

Amid the niche market subject matter lies some credible acting. The film is character-rich, visual, menacing and real. It is slightly better than average independent film making titles UK style, being a small drama for the under 25's.

Skank = rough and ready, but ultimately 80% poor. A

For those who care, a 'sket' is a slang word for a young woman who sleeps around and is a bit... rough for all intents and purposes. So, now you know.

The plot revolves around a Geordie lass who's recently moved to London, and her exploits with a girl gang she joins, mainly so they can help her get revenge on the drug dealer who killed her sister. You wouldn't think this by reading the back of the box though... which references no-one but bit-part-player Ashley Walters (From So Solid Crew and Kidulthood) and makes it out to be a very different film. There's marketing, and then there's blatant lies.

What a grimy, depressing place inner city London looks. Rubbish everywhere, rundown buildings and yobs lurking behind every corner. Something tells me they didn't have to make much of an effort with the set decoration for the atmosphere they wanted. What transpires in this place where life is cheaper than a bag of crack, is nothing new or interesting. The acting is okay, the story is seen-it-all-before, and the obnoxious wall-to-wall rap songs nothing short of a headache.

I have little else to add. What the makers have done is taken segments from every 'street' drama set in our capital city ever made, washed, rinsed, hung them out to dry, then stuck them together and try to pass it off as something new. Sorry folks... it didn't work. 5/10

This movie was exactly what I expected and had hoped for after seeing the trailer. It may not be a cinematic masterpiece, but I did enjoy watching very much.

I thought that Aimee Kelly's portrayal of Kayla was convincing and very easy to empathize with. Ashley Walters was also a good antagonist.

I didn't find this movie "Gripping" or "Electrifying", and certainly not "Insanely Powerful" as the case would suggest. Still, I do recommend this film to anyone that thought the trailer looked good. It is part of a very specific genre of film, one for which I haven't heard a specific name. It feels a bit like the UK shows "Skins" and "Misfits", both of which I also enjoyed, were melded together for this film to make a longer episode or TV movie.

Growing up in London I know full well the lifestyles of many depicted in this cinematic experience. But as I get older these hood films become more harder to watch. Ashley Walters proves his diversity from previous leading roles in Bullet Boy and Sugarhouse, that he can be a convincing antagonist. Not to drift off topic from the movie itself, but I feel that since the release of Kidulthood there seems to be a trend with these gritty street flicks throughout the past decade.

With that being said this flips the script with the majority of the female cast showing the unfortunate lives of young women in Britain. It's a shame that the events that take place in this storyline aren't that far-fetched from the reality we are surrounded by worldwide.

It's honest in its depiction of bullying, drug addiction and sex labour whilst providing a cleverly told plot with a soundtrack mirroring the visual anarchy. Recommend for those with a strong stomach, not that there's any gore in this picture..but it will challenge your ideals of a peaceful world.