Urban Hymn (2015)

Excellent!’Urban Hymn’ is much more heartfelt and meaningful than I thought it would be. It avoids doing the usual, over-the-top thing of making every kid in the film a wannabe gangster and making them all silly criminals. Don’t get me wrong, it does have shades of that but I feel it portrays it in a much more subtle manner than most films of this type do.The cast are brilliant. Letitia Wright gives a superb performance as Jamie, I believed in her character from the get-go; which is thanks to the writing et al. but also to Wright. Isabella Laughland as Leanne is very good, as is Shirley Henderson as Kate. The support cast are also well chosen.One thing I will note is that the film does peak a little too early. The first half of it is fantastic, as is the rest all in all but it does drop off slightly once everything’s been understood. It is also somewhat predictable, though that’s not a negative thing if the production makes it work – which this does.Well worth your viewing time. A weighty story with a convincing cast.