When a young woman is cruelly and indiscriminately attacked by a notorious gang led by the violent Trey, her little 16 year old sister Kayla wants revenge and will stop at nothing to get it, even if it means joining a rival girl gang led by the volatile and damaged man-hating Danielle.
Pity the drama quickly boils over into melodrama, with everything, including the shouting and lairiness, ramped up to the max. If you were sitting next to this film on a bus, you’d move.
Despite some confusing narrative turns, writer-director Nirpal Bhogal's thriller is an impactful and authentic look at gang culture on London's meaner streets.
A haunting, stylised portrayal of a desolate London lingers in the memory.
There are decent performances, a great soundtrack and an attempt at addressing "the issues", but this leaves you wondering why we need another post-Kidulthood gang crime drama, why a lot of young British cinema seems to be defined by London violence, and why we'd rather be defiant about society's faults than attempt to fix them.
Sket might have deserved a modicum of some respect for putting women front-and-centre were its story not simultaneously too ludicrous to take seriously as a state-of-the-nation provocation and too worthy to work as gnarly exploitation fare.
An uneven, occasionally clunky film benefits from Felix Wiedemann's evocative location cinematography and from the very full-blooded performances.
There are few surprises in the plot department but what is surprising is the amount of violence - throttlings, beatings, hammer blows to the head - to be found in a film with a 15 certificate.
It's a confused and confusing movie with odd good moments, but has little by way of revealing insight other than the suggestion that the girl gangsters need loving parents and the protection of a nurturing family.
“Revenge is messy,” the girls are warned. Sadly, it’s not the only thing in a film that, for all its grit and attitude, lacks sufficient cred.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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