Ricky is just out of a young offenders prison; he heads home determined to go straight and live a normal life, but runs into trouble straight away. He gets himself in an argument on the street while trying to protect his friend, and from here it's all downhill for Ricky.

The trouble escalates throughout the day, with the reprisals getting more serious each time, and you can tell this is going to end badly. Ricky's relationship with his best friend mirrors his young brother's relationship with his best friend. Ricky is trying to educate his younger brother on how not to get into trouble, but is finding it hard to keep out of trouble himself. He knows if he stays around his hometown Hackney he will be drawn back into a life of crime. He decides to leave for good... but has he left it too late?

A decent debut for director Saul Dibb. Although a small budget and a predictable ending seriously hamper the film, it still manages to portray the reality of two young black boys growing up in inner London. The film explores themes of friendship, rivalry and revenge in a generation of boys to whom guns have become a fact of life, and where friendship and loyalty are tested to the extreme.

John Casement

Bullet Boy is released on 8th April 2005.
Bullet Boy - Official website