Yardie Review: A Fine Directorial Debut From Idris Elba

Director: Idris Elba 
Cast: Aml Ameen, Everaldo Creary, Sheldon Shepherd, Shantol Jackson, Stephen Graham, Fraser James
Rating: 15
Running time: 101 mins
Release date: 24/08/2018

We all know Idris Elba for being a versatile and exceptional actor, well now he has turned his attention to directing movies. He has put all of his on-camera experience to good use in YARDIE as he sits in the director’s chair for this one calling the shots. Elba has shown his growing expertise in this area, but they are not the only successes of this film – it is brimming with immense talent on camera too. 

The film opens up with us being swept away to Kingston, Jamaica in the 70s, where we see from the offset the difficulties of gangland warfare destroying the area. The movie focuses on two brothers who look out for each other, Jerry (Everaldo Creary) and his younger brother D. The elder of the two wants to end the rivalry between the two gangs and tries to unite the two kingpins at a party, which seems to be going well until a fatal gunshot is fired and kills him. 

The film fast forwards a decade later and we see D all grown up (Aml Ameen). He has been taken under the wing of one of the rival gang leaders from that night – King Fox (Sheldon Shepherd). He has continued with his illegal misdemeanours, whilst doubling up as a music producer. Consumed by never-ending hatred and grief after the loss of his brother, D finds himself causing trouble over the loss when he thought he had a chance to avenge his brothers death. Things go awry and he is sent off to London, England by King Fox where his wife Yvonne (Shantol Jackson) and daughter have been living for three years to escape a life of fear in Kingston.

Upon his arrival, D is suppose to deliver a kilogram of cocaine to a waiting collector named Rico (Stephen Graham) but his intuition gets the better of him and he runs off with the goods as he believes he is a liability. Instead, he ends up selling the cocaine to a known Turk dealer causing mafia warfare between the two. It seems trouble follows D around wherever he goes, as his life continues to be one big battle. 

The film has many successes: the superb soundtrack in which Elba’s love of music is clear, the costumes are fantastic, the backdrop is perfect and the exceptional performances from the cast, especially Aml Ameen and Sheldon Shepherd, will please audiences. However, the  small underlying problem with the film is that there are many sub-plots riding out alongside the main story and on occasion it is crying out for more action and daringness to compliment the humour and mild action.

Overall, it is a good directorial debut from Elba oozing with a superb reggae-inflected soundtrack and great performances, making it clear that the movie is a real passion project for the actor. It is an easy watch and shows great promise for the future for Elba if he continues with his ambitions behind the camera.

After watching this movie, he should and I really hope he does.

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