White, gay, rural — and about to storm the most homophobic mic in London. What could go wrong?
JJ is an aspiring MC exploding onto London's exciting outlaw urban music scene. He's got the skills, he's got the rhymes, and he's got the drive. But there's a problem — not only is JJ a white boy from the sticks — he's also gay. And gay — in the world of hip-hop and ragga — ain't good. So when JJ resolves to come onstage at the Urban Slam Finals, taking his boyfriend Orlando with him, he knows it's going to get a bit grimy... but when the couple falls foul of the Infamous ghetto-rap crew, the Ilford Illmanics and Orlando is beaten into a state of permanent brain-damage, all of their lives are changed forever in a way no one could have ever foreseen.
Acting
Joel Dommett before fame — genuinely vulnerable, not polished.
Direction
Blair's stage roots make every confrontation feel uncomfortably intimate.
Sound
The sound design puts you IN the grime scene — bass you feel in your chest.
Director
Rikki Beadle Blair
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released when UK grime was still underground, this predates mainstream queer representation in British urban music by nearly a decade.
Director Rikki Beadle Blair founded the queer theatre company Team Angelica specifically to tell stories like this — the film's stage origins explain its relentless, theatrical intensity.
GB
