A Brixton Tale

Two fine performances stand out in a decidedly contemporary drama set in London.

Ola Orebiyi

This is the first feature by Darragh Carey and Bertrand Desrochers who had previously co-directed two short films. Carey also had a hand in the screenplay and the subject that they now tackle is the lives of young people today. It is centred on two main characters. Leah (Lily Newmark) is white while Benji (Ola Orebiyi), who becomes her lover, is black. Nevertheless, while this is indeed a Brixton tale, the racial element is largely incidental. Instead, this is a story that contrasts the lives of local youths like Benji whose home is on the Somerleyton Estate with that of a girl like Leah whose family are comfortably off.

If the social differences are central here, that links with the fact that Leah who is keen to study film is already constantly using a camera to capture the world that she sees in Brixton. A gallery owner named Tilda (Jaime Winstone) is her mentor and somebody ready to exhibit her photographs in due course. There is arguably an element of poverty porn inherent in Leah’s street images from the start, and it is certainly the case that Leah is willing to follow Tilda’s hints that to succeed her pictures need more edge. How far she is prepared to go to that end is a question, and so too is the issue of Leah’s feelings for Benji. She is certainly attracted to him but, while he falls for her deeply, for her Benji is an ideal central subject for her work and just how much she really cares for him is what he should be asking himself were he not so naive.

By giving Benji a best friend who is white (Craige Middleburg) the film sidetracks racial issues and puts the emphasis squarely on the exploitative nature of Leah’s relationship with not just Benji himself but also with the other poor folk living in Brixton. The one thing that everybody shares whatever their class is the modern concern with images, cell phones and the like. This is shown to be at the centre of their lives and it makes A Brixton Tale a decidedly contemporary work. However, the film’s greatest asset lies in the excellent lead performances: Lily Newmark builds on the promise she showed in the 2017 film Pin Cushion and Ola Orebiyi moves on from being an effective member of an ensemble cast in the recent Limbo to a star role that unquestionably confirms his abilities.

Largely shot on location, this is certainly a film that has atmosphere but, less successfully, the story sometimes feels sketched in rather than fully realised. At 76 minute this is a short feature and one that could have gained from being longer. Leah’s father (Michael Maloney) is a character who seems underdeveloped and that’s even more the case with Benji’s mother so well played by Rose Kerr that we want to see more of her. Furthermore, the film’s dramatic climax feels rushed and thus loses some of its potential power. One wonders if budgetary considerations contributed to this. Nevertheless, Newmark and Orebiyi impress sufficiently to make the film worthwhile despite its shortcomings and viewers who are of an age to identify readily with the two central characters may be less concerned at the lack of surrounding detail.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Cast: Lily Newmark, Ola Orebiyi, Craige Middleburg, Michael Maloney, Barney Harris, Dexter Padmore, Jaime Winstone, Rose Kerr, Jonty Weston, Ramael Walker, Demetrius Miller, Jerome Miller.

Dir Darragh Carey and Bertrand Desrochers, Pro Rupert Baynham, Darragh Carey and Beau Rambaut, Screenplay Rupert Baynham and Darragh Carey, from a story by Rupert Baynham and Chi Mai, Ph Kristof Brandl, Pro Des Shalini Adnani, Ed Derek Holland, Music Peter Venne, Costumes Tvin Alyanakyan.

Damned Crew/Sprout Pictures/BWGTBLD/Unite Centrale-Bulldog Film Distribution.
76 mins. UK. 2021. Rel: 17 September 2021. Cert. 15.