This will catch you off guard. Georgie (Lola Campbell) is a good kid dealing with a lot, the loss of her mum, she fends for herself, not always in the best way. She’s house proud, misses her mum, deft at picking a lock, in inner city London, she runs a bike racket with her mate Ali (Alin Uzan). All highly illegal of course, but she’s instantly likeable. She inhabits a world of slightly hyper real characters. It’s gritty and deals with some heavy themes, but there’s a lightness to the way this is delivered. Fending for herself, she pulls the wool over everyone’s eyes, social services, school and her own. It’s full of charm, which is just as well, as it’s a big baggy in places early on, but it gets so much spot on that I’ll easily forgive it. Grief is hard to portray, but this deals with it beautifully, whilst being genuinely heartwarming. Georgie lives in a West Ham shirt, unbeknownst than it once belonged to Jason (Harris Dickinson), her dad that turns up back on the scene after her mums death, much to Georgie’s annoyance. She’s wise beyond her years, Jason has his work cut out if he thinks he can just waltz back in. She doesn’t trust him, doesn’t really trust anyone but Ali, but she’ll need to let her guard down if she’s going to get on. It’s an oddly sweet story. Well put together and acted with humbling honesty. It retains a sense of child like wonder, despite Georgie’s persistence that at 12 years old she’s got it sorted, she’s a scrapper and this is fantastic.
7/10
