From Kidulthood to Adulthood

Finally, Noel Clarke’s sequel to Kidulthood, Adulthood, reaches the English regions.

And it was worth the wait.

The kids might have grown up – in terms of age at least – but some of them just can’t leave the past behind. Or the need to carry weapons.

Sam, in Kidulthood the schoolboy killer of classmate Trife, finds his release from jail six years later even tougher, perhaps, than life on the inside.

And while Trife’s mate Moony has taken the straight and narrow – taking the ’smart’ option and studying law to make sure people like Sam stay behind bars for as long as they deserve – Jay, Trife’s other friend, has resorted to dealing drugs and thinking nothing of pulling a knife on anyone who crosses him.

Street weapons – be they knives, guns, baseball bats (which Sam used to kill Trife with in the first instalment) and even a handy bit of brick feature throughout.

Hell, even a pair of straightening irons are used to teach someone a lesson.

But the weapons themselves aren’t really the point – there’s a moment when one character (no spoilers here) decides to drop the knife and use his fists instead, delivering quite the knockout punch.

While the celebrations that ensue could be applauded or frowned upon, it’s the use of violence by the characters – undeniably a reflection of what is going on out there in the real world – that’s the problem.

Writer/star/director Noel Clarke – like a handful of his generation who’ve chosen hard graft over street fights – has been outspoken in interviews, ‘drop the weapons’ his message.

And that message rings loud and clear in Adulthood, too.

Like Sam’s mother says in the movie – it wasn’t just Trife’s mother that lost a son that day.

She lost hers too.