Quite the reverse. Invigorating and unpredictable, the story (also by Ms. Hosaini) tracks the forced maturation of two British-born Arab brothers living in an East London tower block. Mo (Fady Elsayed), college-bound and respectful of his Egyptian parents, nevertheless idolizes his older brother, Rashid (James Floyd), whose membership in a neighborhood gang seems glamorous and lucrative. But when tragedy upends their respective paths and Rashid befriends an older French photographer (Saïd Taghmaoui), his sudden awareness of alternatives to his intellectually and emotionally arid life will prove more destructive than the violence that made it possible.
Rejecting the dreariness of most street-kid dramas, David Raedeker’s cunning photography bathes everything in a rich, golden light that aggressively beautifies the cement-and-convenience-store landscape. Nuances of faith, politics and sexual identity enrich what initially presents as a classic good son-bad son tale, and although the film’s melting-pot patois is occasionally too dense to decipher, we get the gist. Even without words, the skill of the performers (some of whom are nonprofessionals) and the compassion of their director communicate just fine.