Sixteen

There are echoes of Harry Brown in writer/director Rob Brown's promising debut feature. However, instead of an ageing ex-soldier battling the dodgy denizens of a London estate, here it's a schoolboy refugee (and former Congolese child soldier) who's torn between taking a stand or keeping quiet after he witnesses a vicious murder by a fellow pupil. Roger Jean Nsengiyumva (Africa United) gives an assured, mature performance as Jumah, who's scarred - literally and psychologically - from being born into an African war zone, but has a loving lifeline thanks to adoptive mother Laura (Rachael Stirling). Nevertheless, he's a walking powder keg of hurt, anger and confusion, and it's his journey to choosing between redemption or deadly retaliation that's at the heart of an absorbing if underdeveloped urban drama. Brown should be applauded for exploring the struggle that refugees have when they come to Britain from places where death and violence are everyday events, but this is more of an interesting sketch than a profound portrait. Still, it's an excellent showcase for bright, young talent like Nsengiyumva and Rosie Day, who plays the girlfriend painfully trying to understand what makes her brooding beau tick.