Sixteen, 2013.
Written and Directed by Rob Brown.
Starring Roger Jean Nsengiyumva, Rachael Stirling, Rosie Day, Fady Elsayed and Sam Spruell.
SYNOPSIS:
Jumah is about to turn 16 and is already in need of a fresh start. Burdened with the shameful legacy of a past as a child soldier in the Congo, he lives with his adoptive mother in West London, where he struggles to keep a lid on his history of violence.
Unlike many other London based thrillers, this is a much more low-key affair with a strong focus on subtlety instead of explosive action and violence.
The story starts off simply enough as we see that although Jumah is living a different life, there’s still a dark side of him that he just can’t shake. One night though, he and a friend witness something that begins to reveal old and disturbing habits – threatening to turn him into something that he’s been trying to avoid all his life.
While that probably sounds similar to a lot of other thrillers, Sixteen is a very different animal. Everything in this film is restrained to the point of bursting and none more so than Jumah himself. Because of his unknown past, he’s always on the brink of violence whether it’s at school, with friends or in almost any other situation (even at a hairdressing class).
While this character could have been mundane and ordinary, Roger Nsengiyumva brings such anguish to the role that you can’t help but feel for him. In almost every scene you can see such a depth of sadness in his eyes that at times you find yourself completely ignoring what is going on and focussing only on him – a testament to how perfect he is for the role.
While Nsengiyumva is by far the best thing in Sixteen, the tale itself is wonderfully thought out. It’s not so much a typical story with a beginning, middle and end like most thrillers as it is just a small segment of a very troubled life. Because it only hints at the past and the future, you find yourself regularly wondering what exactly happened to him and how his life will change in years to come: something that a lot of other directors wouldn’t have been able to achieve.
Of course a film like this isn’t going to be perfect and there are a couple of major issues that could be easily found, the main one being that as good as the story is, the dialogue is at times incredibly poor. Unmemorable lines litter this movie you’ll struggle to remember any meaningful quote or line of any worth.
This doesn’t really help any of the other actors on screen either and the poor script could be attributed to some incredibly lacklustre performances. I won’t pick anyone out just to be mean but other than Nsengiyumva, everyone seemed a little too amateurish for a picture that could have had a little more impact.
All in all, this film is a solid enough piece that’s worth a watch for its lead alone. It could have stopped five minutes earlier for a more impressive close but overall enjoyable.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Ozzy Armstrong is a Stargate and Rocky superfan. Follow him on Twitter.
Originally published October 14, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
