“Urchin” doesn’t break the mold, but it’s a confident, quietly affecting drama that strikes above the standard character study. Mike (Frank Dillane), an unhoused addict whom we first meet scouring the busy streets of London, is bouncing back after a desperate act of violence lands him in jail for several months.
Wistful, naturalistic scenes spotted with tragicomic humor and surreal visuals depict the aftermath of Mike’s release, when he’s given a lifeline: a few free weeks in a hostel and a gig in a dingy hotel kitchen. Dreamy interludes paired with synth-pop instrumentals show Mike rekindling his spirit through karaoke with his lively female colleagues and later reveling around a bonfire with a hippie-ish Frenchwoman, Andrea (Megan Northam), with whom he strikes up a brief and ultimately disastrous romance. There are shades of David Thewlis’s Johnny, the raggedy charmer of Mike Leigh’s “Naked” (1993), in Dillane’s performance, especially when Mike reverts to his spiky old ways. In his brightest moments, Mike is boyishly gentle, a little wacky, and modestly proud — all in ways that Dillane manages to make feel both pathetic and delightful.
“Urchin” is the feature debut of Harris Dickinson (“Babygirl,” “Triangle of Sadness”), who showcases his cinephile bona fides with confidence, even if his efforts feel somewhat conventional by comparison. Frenzied hand-held camerawork and long-lens imagery give Mike’s urban milieu an alienating quality, recalling the Safdie brothers’ films, though Dickinson tempers the chaos with grounded social-realist commentary.
This isn’t a poignant story of recovery, nor is it an epic fall from grace. Mike re-enters his destructive cycle with a banal sort of ease — shame, systemic forces and social circumstance all playing into his fated relapse. In one scene, Mike reconnects with Nathan (Dickinson himself), a fellow addict who was once a threat to his sobriety. Now it’s Mike who’s all twitchy and angling for quick cash. The tables have turned, and I bet they’ll continue their flip-flopping.
Urchin
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 39 minutes. In theaters.
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