Rocks- solid gritty city drama

ROCKS ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ( Cert 12A, 91mins. In cinemas now)

ACTORS and directors usually soak up all the attention on the red carpet. But this shockingly good British drama shines a light on a figure who rarely gets noticed at premieres – the casting director.

Everybody involved in this wonderfully acted and beautifully written film deserves recognition but it’s casting director Lucy Pardee’s five- star turn that really stands out.

Pardee spent a year searching for youngsters to star in this drama set in the shadow of the city of London and its Gherkin skyscraper.

Only once they were signed up did Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson write their script, drawing on what they had learnt from meeting the lively young novices.

Not only do they deliver powerful performances but they infuse the dialogue with the slang and rhythms of a modern London playground. Scenes in a Hackney girls’ school feel so authentic they could have been ripped from a documentary.

A wonderful Bukky Bakray leads the cast as Shola. The 16- year- old of

British- Nigerian descent – nicknamed Rocks – loves hanging out with her friends and doing their make- up.

But her life changes dramatically when her depressed single mother walks out, leaving £ 30 and a note saying she needs to clear her head.

Shola is determined to keep her cheeky seven- year- old brother Emmanuel ( D’angelou Osei Kissiedu) out of foster care before her mother returns. The carefree teenager has to grow up very quickly.

On paper, she sounds like a heroine from your standard lottery- funded misery fest. But Rocks is more striking for what it isn’t. There are no posturing gangsters and none of the characters are ciphers for political point scoring.

Rocks and her friends, especially her best friend Sumaya ( Kosar Ali), are a delight to hang out with. And as sad as her story is, there’s something admirable about the way this resourceful young woman fights for her brother and avoids the attention of well- meaning social workers.

The writers, actors and director infuse their story with wit, grit and a heart the size of the Gherkin.