Directed by: Reggie Yates
Distributed by: TBA
Written by Alexander Reams
43/100
There are those nights, nights that you remember with your friends, that live in the halls of glory in your mind. For many people, celebrating the millennium was one of those nights, the fear of Y2K looming in some minds. Reggie Yates’ directorial debut is about this exact night, but set in North London, and is about a journey to a mythical party in South London. Following Cappo (Elliot Edusah), Two Tonne (Jordan Peters), and Kidda (Reda Elazouar) as they journey to this mystical party, which means once again, we have a film about a group of friends traveling to a specific event that will be “the defining moment of their lives”.
Oh great. This plot has now crossed into the lane of “overuse”. It seems that so many “coming of age” films are based on this simple premise, but what makes them work is the way the director & writer elevate the basic plot. This is true for most films but it is of utmost importance here. Unfortunately, Writer/Director Reggie Yates is up to neither task here. On the writing side Yates’ vapid attempts at character development play like a bad SNL skit, instead of providing much-needed emotional depth, the characters garner the same amount of eye rolls that most bad Disney rom-com garner. Not only does this get frustrating, but it sours any moment that could be decent. The three leads (Edusah, Peters, and Elazouar) are truly trying, but their inexperience and Yates’ juvenile writing force them into a box that they cannot get out of no matter how hard they are trying. And I understand Edsuah, Peters, and Elazouar’s plight, I felt like watching this movie was almost akin to being shoved into a box for 1.5 hours, I don’t enjoy either of these activities, but more so having to watch this juvenile attempt of a “coming of age” film.
“Pirates” Trailer
“Pirates” was screened as part of the 2022 edition of the SXSW Film Festival.
You can connect with Alexander on his social media profiles: Instagram, Letterboxd, and Twitter. Or see more of his work on his website.
