Cast: Frank Dillane, Harris Dickinson

Written And Directed By: Harris Dickinson

Release Year: 2025

Runtime: 99 minutes

*There Is No Known Audio Description For This title*

What is it? Mike (Dillane) is an addict, completely down and out, who makes a snap bad decision that changes the trajectory of his life. After spending some time in jail, he reintegrates into a society he’s never really been a part of, seeking to hold down a job, and maybe finally a place to live. but perhaps Mike isn’t quite ready to get out of his own way, or perhaps society isn’t ready for Mike.

What Works:It is hard as a blind film critic to recommend a film without audio description, but there’s a bit of good faith here, as the studio distributing is one I didn’t know existed until they picked up Urchin out of Cannes. I also suspect that if we were to get a track, it would be out of the UK, where it is likely a BAFTA contender. In America, it will be swallowed up by the blitz FYC marketing campaigns of bigger studios with more money, so this is going to have to be recognized by the Brits.

A lot of critics review this film as if they’ve never seen Frank Dillane before. I’ve heard him referred to as a discovery. Yeah, Harris Dickinson “discovered” Dillane back in 2009 when he was 13 and watching Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, where Dillane played a young Tom riddle. Dillane has been doing this awhile, so discovery is correct if you believe we discovered America, despite the millions of indigenous people living here.

I remember Dillane from his turn as Nick on fear The Walking dead, one of the original leads of the show. he played a recovering addict on that show as well, and being typecast as an addict may not be the most flattering thing. But, he’s why I would recommend this film. I’m very much someone who watches movies for performances, even if the film itself might be considered just OK. If it has a memorable performance to carry it, I love it. I don’t know why this is an alien concept, since most comedies operate because of their lead talent, not because of the direction, or screenplay.

Dillane has some truly electric moments, which are scattered through a lot of scenes with no dialogue, and I’m missing what Dickinson is trying to capture. He wants this realism in his film, which reminded me so much of recent Brit dramas like Scrapper and Bird, but the inclusion of a hard to like protagonist also reminded me of Mike Leigh’s Hard truths, and last year, Marianne Jean-Baptiste was my pick for Best Actress.

Dillane doesn’t quite have the amount of dialogue Baptiste had, but when he does get those moments, they make up for the time spent wondering what I’m missing. I kept waiting to hear him, that scratchy itch he’s got, struggling to hold onto society. He’s a compelling actor, and this is some damn fine work. It’s also a strong directorial debut from Dickinson, looking to make his mark not as an actor with a vanity project, but a true triple threat who can write/direct/act.

While I’m going positive on this, I’d also tell the blind community to not try and pay to see this directly. Wait and see if it happens onto a streaming service you already subscribe to. The lack of accessibility will be too pronounced, and I can’t expect everyone to like movies because of a strong performance.

Why You Might Like it: You can see, and want to check out the struggle of a character who has done bad things, but is far more complex than the sum of his parts.

Why You Might Not Like It: It is a little artsy, so those who don’t venture into the art house much won’t get as much out of the choices. Also, the lack of audio description.

Final thoughts: Harris Dickinson’s directorial debut is a notable promising start, but it is the casting of frank Dillane, whose complicated portrayal of a societal outcast is one of the best of the year.

Fresh: Final grade: 6.6/10