Anthony Boyle, Lola Petticrew, Joe Cole, Jay Lycurgo, Daryl McCormack
Childhood friends from the same Birmingham housing estate, Patrick (Anthony Boyle), Shiv (Lola Petticrew), Rian (Joe Cole), Oli (Jay Lycurgo) and Conor (Daryl McCormack) grew up together. They played together, skipped school together, and dreamt of everything they’d do with their lives. But now, they’re 30 – and things haven’t worked out quite how they planned.
Told through the shifting perspectives of its leads, Clio Barnard’s (The Arbor, The Selfish Giant) latest is a dynamic, compassionate social-realist picture that’s steeped in both British working-class consciousness and the intimate lore of its quintet of friends. Adapted by Edna Walsh from Keiran Goddard’s 2014 novel, it brings home the sober reality of how individual lives may be limited by material conditions and stricken by loss and addiction, but also how humour, loyalty and friendship continue to bestow meaning – even (or especially) in the toughest of circumstances. Winner of the Director’s Fortnight Audience Award at Cannes Film Festival 2026.
