A Way of Life (2004)

×

A Way of Life (2004)

Close

A single teenage mother operating along the margins of society unleashes a bitter torrent of anger on her unsuspecting neighbors in first-time director Amma Assante's seething psychological drama. Leigh-Ann (Stephanie James) may seem like a victim to some, but in between paying the bills, dealing with welfare officers, and keeping the menacing father of her infant child at bay, this single mother has no time for anything but survival. With so much bottled rage in her life Leigh-Ann is bound to explode sooner or later, and when her brother starts dating the daughter of her Pakistani neighbors this mother's uncontrollable anger threatens to consume both her and the ones she holds dearest.

Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Once there was something called kitchen-sink drama; maybe in future we'll call this Asbo cinema. First-time British writer-director Amma Asante has a violent and unsentimental story to tell about hopeless teenage mums and absentee dads in run-down Cardiff, with their grim superstructure of abusive stepfathers, banged-up siblings and despairing nans. It's rough around the edges - rough in the middle too - but its sheer energy makes everything else this week look cynical and meagre. Asante channels a growl of rage from the estates and has tactless, non-PC things to say about paranoid racism in the inner city's mean streets. Her focus is not with the victims; we are invited to understand and even sympathise with the racists themselves.

Peter Bradshaw, Guardian

×

A Way of Life (2004)

Close