Yardie (2018)
Storyline
Jamaica, 1973. When a young boy witnesses his brother’s assassination, a powerful Don gives him a home. But 10 years later, when he’s sent to London, his past catches up to him.
Directors
Writers
Cast
Derek Lea, Stephen Graham, Aml Ameen, Mark Smith, Jumayn Hunter, Eddie Nestor, Akin Gazi, Nadine Marshall, Fraser James, Carol Lawes, Naomi Ackie, Johann Myers, Calvin Demba, Tanika Bailey, Shantol Jackson, Sheldon Shepherd, Adnan Mustafa, Duramaney Kamara, Everaldo Creary, Riaze Foster, Rayon McLean, Antwayne Eccleston, Treshawna Douglas, Rahem Edwards, Myla-Rae Hutchinson-Dunwell, Christopher Daly, Chris Ann Fletcher, Alexandra Vaz, Tolu Ogunmefun, Sean Lyn, Paul Haughton, Alistair Cope, Dave Hart, Micah Williams
Trailer
Reviews
80
Overall this is a remarkable debut from Elba, and it makes for an engaging, captivating watch.
60
A debut of unarguable promise, though – plenty to build on if Elba can resist the adolescent lure of running round with 007’s PPK.
60
Empire
Neither a luridly enjoyable piece of Scarface-style pulp or a nuanced genre subversion, Idris Elba’s directorial debut is a fitfully entertaining 1980s gangster thriller.
40
An over-explanatory voiceover seems to indicate a lack of confidence in the script’s jumbled plotting and laggy pacing. The performances aren’t bad (Ameen’s charisma eclipses the expositional dialogue), but the stakes feel low and the characters gangster-movie generic.
