County Lines - Movie Review

Five Stars - Excellent 

Many of us are aware that there is a drugs crisis in Ireland.

Drugs are available everywhere from the local GAA to the pub. 

Treatment centres in the past used to mostly deal with cases of alcoholism
they are now seeing more and more 'cross addicted' cases. Alcohol and drugs. You could actually say it is a silent pandemic - one of addiction. 

So this movie County Lines that was released in Dec 2020 is a very important and realistic depiction of what it is like to live or even better, fall into the drugs world as a minor. 

I saw it this week on BBC 2 quite late. Quite late because I don't think the BBC wanted too many people to see it. Not to understand what is taking place. 

This is also a problem now in Ireland, rarely reported on, along with knife crime and child prostitution. Kids in Ireland are now being targeted in children's homes by pimps in much the same way they were in Manchester. 

The UK National Crime Agency estimates over 10,000 children are involved. 

We could have a similar figure here soon. Nonetheless the culture is here. 

County lines is a form of criminal exploitation. It is when criminals befriend children, either online of offline, and then manipulate them into drug dealing. The 'lines' refer to mobile phones that are used to control a young person who is delivering drugs, often to towns outside their home county.
- Children Society UK

Knock Knock You Owe Us 5K?

Some parents get to suddenly discover two things some night up and down the country. The first is John or Jilly have a sudden debt of 5,000 Euros and secondly that they are a drug addict.

The debt will be enforced and is for immediate payment to the drug dealers who will use all sorts of tactics including harassment and violence. 
  
So this is why RTE should broadcast this movie to help people understand what is taking place. 

Conrad Khan Shines in Movie
​County Lines 

County Lines is a powerful and moving coming-of-age film about a 14 year old boy who is groomed into a ‘county lines’ criminal network.

Inspired by the stories he heard while mentoring kids at an East London pupil referral unit, writer-director Henry Blake’s powerful feature debut boasts a compelling central performance by Conrad Khan as 14-year-old Tyler, with strong supporting performances from Ashley Madekwe and Harris Dickinson.

Children are used by dealers as they are treated differently in the courts until they reach 18. 

Irelands youth detention centre, Oberstown, is now officially full. A judge recently had to release a juvenile due to lack of capacity at the centre. 

Conrad Khan is such an amazing young acting talent. He wonderfully acts the protagonist Tyler at a key stage in his life. This is where he is vulnerable and ends up being groomed into the drugs underworld by Simon who is played by enigmatically by Harris Dickinson. 

Dickenson is fantastic at embodying the duplicitous and psychopathic and entitled drug dealer Simon. Low on empathy and high, high, high on entitlement. Exploitative. People to Simon are like utensils, a means to an end and if they get broken you just throw them away and replace them with someone else. With rules of omertà  'no comment' covering everything. 

If people don't listen to Simon and what he is entitled too then he makes them listen with violence. 

Simon may not have started off in life like this but this is where he and anybody that gets involved ends up. You could say its the 'company culture'.

Madekwe is a single mom Toni struggling to raise two kids and keep a roof over their heads. She try's her best. She's drowning. Working a minimum wage job. Money is low, very low. Another excellent and convincing performance. Relatable. 

You can tell this is a heartfelt public information film from writer director Henry Blake that is alarming as it is compassionate.

Blake does not shy away from doing true justice to the testimonies he has heard from the teenagers caught up in County Lines and the criminal underworld. 

If you love the writer Mike Leigh movies then you are going to love this. 

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