''Kidulthood'' (stylised known as ''KiDULTHOOD'') is a 2006 British

teen Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human Developmental biology, physical and psychological Human development (biology), development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age o ...

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Menhaj Huda Menhaj Huda (born 20 March 1967) is a Bangladesh-born British film and television director and producer best known for the film '' Kidulthood''. Career Huda's first directing job was the 1993 television series ''Hypnosis''. He directed ''Jump B ...

from a screenplay by

Noel Clarke Noel Anthony Clarke (born 6 December 1975) is an English actor, writer, director and producer. Rising to prominence for playing Mickey Smith in ''Doctor Who'' (2005–2006, 2008, 2010), he received critical acclaim for writing, directing, and ...

. It stars

Aml Ameen Aml Ameen () (born 30 July 1985) is a British actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his roles as Trevor (Trife) in ''Kidulthood'' (2006), Malcolm Davies in ''Harry's Law'', Lewis Hardy in the ITV (TV network), ITV television series ''The Bil ...

, Red Madrell,

Adam Deacon Adam Steven Deacon (born 4 March 1983) is an English actor. He is known for his lead role in the films '' Kidulthood'', sequel ''Adulthood'', and for his directorial debut, '' Anuvahood''. Career Deacon was brought up by his English mother in S ...

Jaime Winstone Jaime Margaret Winstone (born 6 May 1985) is an English actress, best known for her roles in ''Kidulthood'' (2006), ''Goldplated'' (2006), ''Dead Set (TV series), Dead Set'' (2008), ''Donkey Punch (2008 film), Donkey Punch'' (2008), ''Boogie ...

Femi Oyeniran Femi Oyeniran is a Nigerian-British actor and director who started his career in '' Kidulthood'', playing the role of "Moony" in 2006. It was followed by the 2008 sequel ''Adulthood''. His first feature film as a director ''It's A Lot'' was re ...

, Madeleine Fairley, Cornell John, Kate Magowan, Pierre Mascolo (who also acted as executive producer),

Rafe Spall Rafe Joseph Spall ( ; born 10 March 1983) is an English actor. Spall has appeared in films including '' Kidulthood'' (2006), '' A Good Year'' (2006), ''Hot Fuzz'' (2007), '' One Day'' (2011), ''Anonymous'' (2011), ''Prometheus'' (2012), '' Lif ...

and

Nicholas Hoult Nicholas Caradoc Hoult (; born Wokingham, 7 December 1989) is an English actor. He has received several accolades, including a nomination for a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe nominations, and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. ...

. Set in the

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: Central London, N ...

area

Ladbroke Grove Ladbroke Grove ( ) is a road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, which passes through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue. It is also the name of the sur ...

, the film follows two days of in the lives of a diverse group of teenagers, who are given the day off school following a classmate’s suicide. Clarke wrote the film between 1999 and 2000, inspired by his own upbringing and American films such as ''

Boyz n the Hood ''Boyz n the Hood'' is a 1991 American coming-of-age hood crime drama film written and directed by John Singleton in his feature directorial debut. It stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube (in his film debut), Morris Chestnut, and Laurence Fis ...

'' (1991), ''

Clerks A clerk is someone who works in an office. A retail clerk works in a store. Office holder Clerk(s) may also refer to a person who holds an office, most commonly in a local unit of government, or a court. *Barristers' clerk, a manager and administ ...

'' (1994) and '' Kids'' (1995), and began developing with director

and producer George Isaac between 2001 and 2003. Filming began on 14 November 2004 and was filmed on location until 16 December. The film explores themes, such as sex, drugs, bullying, violence, suicide, teenage pregnancy, gun control and racial issues. It also features breakout performances for Ameen, Clarke, Deacon, Winstone, Oyeniran, Spall and Hoult. Made on a budget of £560,000, ''Kidulthood'' was released theatrically on 3 March 2006 and received praise and controversy for its depiction of teenage life in London. The success of the film led to two sequels: ''

Adulthood An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social an ...

'' (2008) and '' Brotherhood'' (2016), both of which were written and directed by Clarke.

Plot

In 2002, at

, local school student Katie suffers intense physical and emotional bullying by a group of girls, as well as by another bully, Sam Peel. When her father picks her up from school that day, Sam quietly threatens to kill her if she ever tells anyone. That evening, Katie's older brother Lenny breaks into her room to discover that she has hanged herself. The following morning, the students are informed of Katie's death and are given the day off to mourn. Trevor "Trife" Hector and his best friends, Jay and Moony, decide to spend it smoking

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. Pla ...

and drinking

alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

. Trife's pregnant ex-girlfriend Alisa decides to spend the day with her best friend Becky. Becky performs

oral sex Oral sex, sometimes referred to as oral intercourse, is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a person by another person using the mouth (including the lips, tongue, or teeth). Cunnilingus is oral sex performed on the vu ...

on an older man in return for drugs, and aggressively coaxes Alisa into joining in. The boys make their way to Sam's house on an estate to retrieve a

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

Sam had stolen from them the day before. Realising Sam is out, the boys also steal Sam's cannabis and Jay has sex with Sam's girlfriend Claire. Sam returns unexpectedly, but is beaten unconscious by the boys and they knock down Sam's mother as they flee. Alisa and Becky unexpectedly run into some of Katie's bullies aboard a

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

. Alisa, feeling bad that she was not there for Katie, berates the girls for the suffering they caused. Becky accidentally reveals that Alisa is pregnant, information that the bullies threaten to spread around school in an effort to humiliate Alisa. At the next station, Alisa hurries off the train to

vomit Vomiting (also known as emesis, puking and throwing up) is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteritis, pregna ...

, whilst Becky scorns her for putting her life at risk. Having successfully sold the drugs they acquired earlier, they head to a shopping centre to buy dresses for a party later that evening, before meeting up with the boys. Jay, convinced by Trife that Alisa's baby is Sam's, falsely informs her that Trife wants nothing to do with her. Heartbroken, Alisa asks Becky if they can leave, but Becky insists on going to the party. At the same time, Trife visits his uncle Curtis, who presents him with a

revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

, the same one Trife had drilled the barrel for earlier at school. Downstairs, Andreas, a customer who earlier missed a drugs payment, is tied and beaten by Curtis and Trife. Curtis then orders Trife to carve a "C" into Andreas' face with a Stanley knife in order to test him. Though visibly terrified, Trife carries out his uncle's order, and flees the house traumatised. Trife desperately tries to call Alisa, but is unsuccessful in doing so. On her way home, Alisa runs into a classmate and persuades her to go to the party with her. At the party, Becky is stood up by Moony and fails to convince Jay to have sex with her. Trevor interrupts Alisa and the other classmate who are kissing outside, and confesses his love for her. Alisa informs Trevor that the baby is definitely his – she had never slept with Sam. The two rekindle their love, but a vengeful Sam arrives at the party and attacks Trife. Alisa hurriedly tells Jay and Moony, who intervene to help Trife. Outside, Sam beats down both Trevor and Jay, whilst intimidating Moony into not interfering. Sam challenges all the other party goers who come out to watch, however Alisa, the only one unafraid of Sam, slaps him. When Sam grabs her by her hair, Trife gets to his feet and fights him to the ground. Alisa pleads with him to stop, and he ambles over to her. Sam takes this opportunity to grab his

baseball bat A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal Club (weapon), club used in the sport of baseball to hit the Baseball (ball), ball after it is thrown by the pitcher. By regulation it may be no more than in diameter at the thickest part and no more t ...

, and delivers a critical blow to Trife's stomach. As this occurs, Lenny arrives at the party; brandishing a gun, he forces Sam to the ground at gunpoint, and produces the

note Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened versi ...

Katie wrote before she hanged herself. Lenny prepares to kill Sam but Trife stops him with his dying breath, telling him that Sam is not worth it. Sam is almost killed when he insults Lenny after the latter begins to walk away, however the gun fails to fire. Sirens are heard in the distance, so Lenny, his accomplice, and Sam all flee the party as Trife dies before the ambulance and police arrive.

Cast

as Trevor 'Trife' Hector * Red Madrell as Alisa *

as Jay *

as Sam Peel *

as Becky *

as Moony * Madeleine Fairley as Claire * Cornell John as Curtis *

as Lenny *

as Blake *

Graham Page Sir Rodney Graham Page (30 June 1911 – 1 October 1981) was a British solicitor, businessman and Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Crosby from 1953 until his death. Background Page was born in Hertford to ...

as Joe * Rebecca Martin as Katie * James Witherspoon as Kilpo *

Ortis Deley Ortis Deley ( ; born 2 June 1973) is a British television presenter, comedian, singer, radio DJ and actor. He is of Ghanaian and Nigerian descent, best known for presenting the Children's BBC Saturday morning flagship series ''Live & Kicking' ...

as Derek * Stephanie Di Rubbo as Shaneek * Kate Magowan as Stella

Production

Following brief stints at his local West London sports centre as an athlete, gym instructor, waterslide attendant and lifeguard,

first came with the idea for ''Kidulthood'', due to being rejected lead roles in films and TV shows and instead offered minor roles as the stereotypical black robber. He was also encouraged to write films about his own experiences by his mentor Rikki Beadle-Blair, who had given Clarke his first acting role in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

television comedy drama series '' Metrosexuality'' (2001). The script for ''Kidulthood'' was the fourth Clarke had ever written; the first two, ''Remembering Jessie'' and ''Society'', were undeveloped and the third, the wedding-centric comedy '' The Knot'', was later released in 2012. According to Clarke, a large majority of the film is an autobiographical depiction of him and his four friends growing up in Ladbroke Grove, West London, with the expection of the character of Uncle Curtis and the gun drilling, which was added later on. Upon completing the script, Clarke initially showed the script to Blair and

Timothy Spall Timothy Leonard Spall ( ; born 27 February 1957) is an English actor. He gained recognition for his character actor roles on stage and screen. In 2000, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II. S ...

(whose son, Rafe, was cast as Lenny, in the film), but when he showed it to Ray Panthaki, who played Mark in the film, he forwarded the script to Menhaj "Hoodz" Huda, who began helping Clarke develop and pitch the film. Despite production nearly collapsing and being rejected by studios for its promiscuous portrayal of British teenagers, the film received funding from producer George Isaac and filming finally began in November 2004, while Clarke was filming the

first series First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

of the 2005 revival of ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

''. The film was principally shot in the actual areas in which it is set around London W11; for example, some of the school scenes are shot in Twyford CE High School in Acton, similarly Alisa and Becky's journey on the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

is between

and Royal Oak stations.

Soundtrack

London hip-hop group Arcane wrote the title track for the film. The soundtrack drew on British hip hop and grime music including

The Streets The Streets is an English musical project led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner (musician), Mike Skinner. The project was founded in the early 90s, while Skinner was still a teenager; however, no music would formally eventuat ...

Roots Manuva Rodney Hylton Smith, better known by his stage name Roots Manuva (born 9 September 1972), is a British rapper and producer. Since his debut in 1994, he has produced numerous albums and singles on the label Big Dada, achieving commercial succ ...

Dizzee Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), known professionally as Dizzee Rascal, is a British rapper and MC. He is often credited as a pioneer of British hip hop and grime music and was ranked by ''Complex'' as one of the greatest British ...

and

Lethal Bizzle Maxwell Owusu Ansah (born 14 September 1984), known by his stage name Lethal Bizzle, is a British rapper from Walthamstow, London, of Ghanaian origin. He emerged in 2002 as a grime MC as part of More Fire Crew, with their grime single "Oi!" c ...

Critical reception

''Kidulthood'' has received a generally positive critical response. Writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'',

Miranda Sawyer Miranda Caroline Sawyer (born 7 January 1967) is an English author, journalist and broadcaster. Education and early life Sawyer was born in Bristol and grew up in Wilmslow, Cheshire with her brother Toby, who is an actor. Sawyer was educated ...

called the film "a rollicking UK youth ride, cinematically filmed, persuasively acted and bumped along by a fantastic all-British soundtrack ... It's also very funny, laced with a humour of the slapped-in-the-face-with-a-kipper sort: you can't help laughing because it's so outrageous". Stephen Armstrong in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', said "the only people who should be shocked by this film are people who have never been teenagers. What ''Kidulthood'' does is take all the violence, sex and intoxication experienced in a teenage year and condense it into a single day, because that's far more marketable than a film about eight kids spending four hours sitting on the swings wondering what to do". The ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' described it as being "as potent as a shot of vodka before breakfast – a harrowing, uncompromisingly bleak but thoughtful look at the anguish of being young and poor in Britain".Review
''The Daily Mirror'', 3 March 2006

Sequels

The film spawned a trilogy, receiving two

sequels A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

: ''

'' was released in 2008, which was written and also directed by Noel Clarke, and then '' Brotherhood'' in 2016.

References

External links

* *
''Kidulthood''
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kidulthood 2006 films 2006 crime drama films 2006 independent films 2000s British films 2000s coming-of-age drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s hood films 2000s teen drama films Black British films British coming-of-age drama films British crime drama films British independent films British teen drama films Films about drugs Films about interracial romance Films directed by Menhaj Huda Films set in 2002 Films set in London Films shot in London Films with screenplays by Noel Clarke Teen crime films English-language independent films English-language crime drama films