Movie: Gassed Up
Production Company: Bromantics
Director: George Amponsah
Producers: Stefan D’Bart, Bart Ruspoli, Hester Ruoff, Rupert Preston, Edward Caffrey
Scriptwriters: Archie Maddocks, Taz Skylar
Main Cast: Stephen Odulbola, Taz Skylar, Craige Middleburg,
Release Date: 9th February 2024
Running Time: 102 minutes
Certificate: 15
Introduction: This crime drama, centered around 4 young gang members in London, is more gripping than one would expect and does things on it’s own terms.
Synopsis: The story focuses on Ash who is desperately trying to provide for his 14 year old sister and send his drug addicted mother into rehab. He eventually becomes embroiled in an organized crime ring to support his family.
Analysis: After hearing about the film’s generally bad reception, I still tried to go in with as much of an open minded as possible so that I could see for myself. If you ask me, the reviews have been rather harsh. It’s not new or groundbreaking, but I was relatively engaged from start to finish and thought the whole thing was gripping enough to fend off boredom. One element they decide to include within the background of the story are real world and very up to date issues regarding society in this country. We see news reports on tv and the radio of crime rates soaring in the city.
Yet it is made clear that youths are forced into it because of how difficult it is becoming to provide for your family; they have no choice. This directorial decision as well as mentions of the cost of living crisis worked well and gave the film a little extra strength and pertinence. Despite being unaware of who most of the cast are, except for the cameos made by YouTuber and rapper Yung Filly and YouTuber Harry Pinero (which the trailer ruined), they all do a good enough job for my money and gave it their all. In terms of how most crime dramas set in London go, this was one of the slightly better ones for me. If you also like your hip – hop and grime, you’ll like the soundtrack this has as I did. Flawed but watchable.
In cinemas now.
Overall Rating: 6.5/10- Okay
Target Audience: 15+
Content Warning: very strong language, strong violence, threat, sexual threat, drug misuse
Recommendation: Yes
