Kidulthood, with all of its characters engaging in the extremes of life, doesn’t really have one adult there to say “stop”. There’s no one, not even a parent, who steps into the film at any time to say “What’s going on?” It’s almost like a set-up for a dark, yet cheesy 'kids in the hood' sitcom where the parents aren’t even present.
Maybe the lack of a parental figure, the fact that the kids were allowed to be adults when they weren’t emotionally ready, or the fact that I didn’t care about their outcomes soured how I felt about the film. If Kidulthood’s message is that ultimately a life lived in the hood is a short and painful one, then the film should make people feel just that — hopeless.
I found out about this film due to its Doctor Who connection. Noel Clarke, who played Rose Tyler’s boyfriend Mickey Smith on the show, wrote the screenplay for Kidulthood. At first I wasn’t too interested in seeing anything he did given that I didn’t like his earlier performances on the show. Later, towards the end of his time when his character became less of a thug and more likable, I changed my mind.
Noel Clarke did a sequel to Kidulthood years after the first one and even took the director’s chair in addition to writing the screenplay. Whether it was better than the original is something I’ll never know because I didn’t like the original to begin with. I would think a sequel would only work if people actually liked what came before and I can’t see much in here that made it sequel-worthy.
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