On the spot reportage is both a pro and con in Penny Woolcock’s documentary, which joins Dylan Duffus (the star of the director’s grime musical 1 Day ), as he tries to forge peace between warring Birmingham gangs.
Driven by urgent rap beats and prickling with paranoia, this is immersive and engaged docu-making.
But it’s also limited, failing to provide context for a situation where the threat of gun crime is seen as “just normal”.
Woolcock’s coy interview style is a typically mixed blessing: it gains gang-members’ trust, but a more probing approach might have revealed more.
