‘I don’t need you to worry for me…’
As a teacher, spending time with teenagers is an occupational hazard. It’s rare that I see those kids that I teach represented on screen. Often, films about teenagers are written through the lens of someone my age looking back on their own misspent youth. Or sometimes the whole thing will drown under the weight of American teen movie tropes that haven’t changed since the 90s. Rocks is closer to the authentic teen experience. Indeed, the school scenes hummed with familiarity (even if I was rooting for the frazzled teachers and not the protagonists) and director Sarah Gavron does a great job in bringing this story to life…
Rocks (Bukky Bakray) is a teenage girl with an absent mother, a disobedient younger brother and a tightknit group of friends. Based on a script from Theresa Ikoko, Rocks takes a simply story and imbues it with warmth and pathos, helped in no small part by a talented young cast and an assured hand behind the camera.
This is the kind of film where nothing much happens and everything happens, a successful bonding of the seemingly insignificant moments that dominate the life of a teenager with the huge life altering events that overshadow everything else. The school scenes are gritty, hilarious and genuine, whilst the juxtaposition of Rocks’ life as a teenager with her troubled home life offers a glimpse into the struggles endured by countless young people across the country.
Rocks is funny, captivating and shot through with wanton teenage rebellion. It might not have the gloss of Sex Education, but as a companion piece to something like Eighth Grade it is an undoubted success.