Anyone who has ever worked with young people who sit on the fringes of society will recognise the story Blake brings to the screen and the inner-city battle for survival that haunts so many families. County Lines is released nationwide on 4th December in cinemas and on-demand via BFI Player and Curzon Home Cinema.
County Lines is a term used to describe gangs and organised criminal networks involved in exporting illegal drugs into one or more importing areas [within the UK], using dedicated mobile phone lines or another form of “deal line”. They are likely to exploit children and vulnerable adults to move [and store] the drugs and money, and they will often use coercion, intimidation, violence (including sexual violence) and weapons. – The National Crime Agency
The best drama comes from a deep understanding of the issues portrayed, and this is something debut director Henry Blake fully understands as he brings his years of youth work experience to the screen. Blake’s remarkable, powerful and profoundly unsettling exploration of young people drawn into drug trafficking is both vivid, urgent and timely. Tyler (Conrad Khan) has never quite fit in, with his school life a barrage of taunts and bullying. Meanwhile, at home, his mum, Toni (Ashley Madekwe), is forced to work nights as a cleaner just to put food on the table, leaving Tyler to care for his younger sister.
Between school and home, Tyler’s life is caught in a trap of caring responsibilities, poverty and a growing need for independence and security. The enigmatic Simon (Harris Dickinson) understands Tyler’s longing. Simon appears to be a new friend, a surrogate older brother who understands Tyler’s anger and provides protection from harm. And it’s not long before Simon offers Tyler a way to make ‘easy’ money. Tyler quickly accepts before learning that money doesn’t come easily, and dirty money comes with many deadly strings attached.
READ MORE: CONSEQUENCES
Blake’s film is rooted in the kitchen sink realism of Ken Loach, Mike Leigh and Tony Richardson, as he wraps Tyler’s journey in an inescapable loop of poverty and crime. Conrad Khan is a revelation as Tyler, his performance rich in the anger, despair, and need for belonging that every teen faces, while reflecting the painful truth of poverty and segregation in modern-day Britain through a single look or gesture.
Anyone who has ever worked with young people who sit on the fringes of society will recognise the story Blake brings to the screen and the inner-city battle for survival that haunts so many families. Here, the need for older brothers and sisters to step up and become carers is essential in holding off a family’s descent into homelessness. At the same time, schools struggle to keep young people actively involved while youth workers find their skills cut out of state services in favour of a more prescribed social service response. As a result, thousands of young people fall through the cracks in social support each year, turning to far more dangerous role models.
READ MORE: SLAPFACE
As County Lines comes to a close, there are no simple answers to the gaps in social and educational support that often lead to coercion and crime, and our journey alongside Tyler is a mere snapshot of a much larger and more complex problem. But in generating a series of meaningful discussions, County Lines becomes a talking point for young people, parents and professionals, and it is here that Blake’s film is at its most potent.
Director: Henry Blake
Cast: Conrad Khan, Harris Dickinson, Ashley Madekwe, Marcus Rutherford, Carlyss Peer
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