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After a spate of spectacularly appalling British urban films I must admit I had lost my faith in the scene as a whole and the invitation to see Shifty was met with a groan of apathy. The directors of these films invariably get it disastrously wrong when trying to portray the gritty essence of street life in London and to be perfectly frank, I'm past caring about weak plots and unrealistic scenes acted out by incapable thespians. Can anyone change my opinion of a seemingly pathetic genre?

Step forward Eren Creevy the writer and director of Shifty and a carefully chosen cast consisting of Riz Ahmed as Shifty, a suburban drug dealer; Daniel Mays as Chris – Shifty's closest friend who has returned to see him after a four year hiatus and veteran Jason Flemyng as Glen, a drug dealer above Shifty in the underworld hierarchy.

Shifty is set in suburban London and follows the lives of various characters that are all interconnected by the buying, selling and use of drugs. The entire story is set over a 24 hour period and within it one is given insight into the lives of dealers and abusers alike and presented with the ramifying consequences of some of their actions. The film also successfully explores the concept of one facing the past and dealing with it but also making wise plans for the future.

Shifty is surprisingly well scripted and the script in turn is well executed by Riz, Chris, Jason et al. The most notable difference between this movie and its predecessors which makes them pale in comparison is that Shifty seems infinitely more natural and lets the relationships between the characters come to life on screen rather than attempt to be a hardcore gangster flick in which the violence is far too often gratuitous and the slang is poorly researched and therefore outdated. There are genuine laugh out loud moments in Shifty that, coupled with the very compelling dramatic scenes, make for some highly recommendable cinematic viewing.

Written By Justin Smith Uzomba

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