Goodbye Charlie Bright

A rite-of-passage yarn about a bunch of lifelong mates on a south London council estate and the last long, hot summer that they spend together before circumstances send them off on separate ways. The film charts their close but volatile kinship against a backdrop of the usual “laddish” behaviour, from petty pilfering to a more serious confrontation with a troubled Falklands War veteran. While the script and direction are erratic, the film benefits enormously from the authenticity of location filming and from credible performances by a young cast, headed by former EastEnders star Paul Nicholls. David Thewlis, Phil Daniels and one-time The Word presenter Dani Behr also appear. It's writer/director Nick Love's first feature, and he'll make better films, but this is a very bright start.

Lively coming-of-age drama of teenagers seeking any form of excitement to stave off boredom, while shades of the prison-house close around them.