From Bullet Boy to Blue Story, the inescapable whirlpool of life in London’s youth gangs has been a cinematic theme for some time now – one that invariably comes with the standard-issue banging grime soundtrack. Daniel Glenn-Barbour’s low-budget debut doesn’t deviate from the norm, but it has a heightened introspection that marks it out, a kind of dull roiling despair behind the eyes, thanks to its unusually passive protagonist: Darrell who, as the title suggests, is forever acquiescing to the requests of others – and is played with terrifically repressed, bobble-hatted anti-verve by Kieton Saunders-Browne.
In his late teens, Darrell has already served a stretch in prison on behalf of one of his gangland higher-ups and decides he can no longer stomach being patronised by snooty management in a dead-end office internship. But, back under the wing of minor-league dealer Ben (Kirk Smith), he is still on the bottom rung – and bullied for his lack of ambition. After he’s drawn back to selling on the roads, his parents kick him out and he shacks up with Ryan (Keon Martial-Phillip), a fellow gang member who wants to become a chef and suggests that Darrell too is capable of better.
