Perhaps we can live here with more dramatic drama and exciting events in which we live in a new way. These events present a series of urban rituals from the drama that was filmed in the scene of a hostile and exciting British rap battle. Although the scene looks musically, everything turns into a serious challenge we live in more forcefully and willingly.
It's about a young white rapper who has issues with his mother, and naturally it may owe something to Curtis Hanson's 8 Mile from 2003, starring Eminem, but I enjoyed this more.
Lilly deftly handles a cliched story - there are parallels with everything from Eminem in 8 Mile to boxing drama Creed - giving it a distinctive, persuasive edginess.
In the latter stages, the film becomes increasingly sentimental, and even risks turning into a full blown tearjerker, but it never feels trite or manipulative.
Vs. may set its stall as the British 8 Mile, with its hard-done-by protagonist transmuting his rage into lyrics, but it goes its own way and is refreshingly progressive when it comes to gender and sexuality.
Embraces the specificity of an English working-class seaside milieu, stacks the drama with ebullient UK rap and grime talent, and puts Swindells's vital performance stage centre to produce a compelling drama that transcends its generic roots...
