Boys
Ashley Walters, known primarily for his roles in Bullet Boy and the hit series Top Boy, heads behind the camera to make his directorial debut with Boys. Boys is set against the surprisingly warm backdrop of East London and follows Noah (Hector Abbott), aided by his friend, Lewis (Jude Chinchen), as they try to gather a certain list of items. These items have been requested by Noah’s brother, Nick,rapper Devlin, who is serving time in prison for drug possession.
Walters’ intent is to present the maturity of Noah and Lewis across a few days, as they come to realise where their lives are heading and what they can do to change the direction. It’s a noble sentiment, but it does feel like Walters is pulled short here. The 24-minute runtime is technically and narratively complete, but character development is noticeably rapid and the film comes across as the first act of something larger, rather than a standalone short.
Walters’ does construct, however, a remarkably watchable piece. If his future intent was to invest further time with these characters and flesh Boys out into a feature, it would be a film that already wears a lot of promise. There’s a lot that could be fleshed out with this short concept, while an injection of drama or misadventure seems an obvious next step.
Both Abbott and Chinchen give solid, believable performances, with Abbott especially pulling across a range of emotions. In just a few scenes, we also see the character of Noah as he combats family responsibility, relationships, money issues and school. This variety of moments allows Abbot to go from the cocky tough guy to a broken sixteen-year-old– the result being that he's jarringly real and convincing as both.
Walters also does a great job of embracing location. Typically, East London is represented as a grey, downtrodden area, but Walters’ apparently has a lot of love for the region and paints it with a colourful brush. It’s a refreshing look on the area, which offers an unusual parallel alongside the seemingly average drug deals taking place.
Overall, Boys shows potential. Walters has found himself with a good concept and sympathetic characters played by talented young actors. However, it feels like he needs a longer runtime to be able to truly express what he wants to.