County Lines (2019)

County Lines: Directed by Henry Blake. With Harris Dickinson, Conrad Khan, Ashley Madekwe, Marcus Rutherford. A 14-year-old-boy is groomed into a criminal network which involves drug smuggling.

“With a plot about the use of underage children for transportation of illegal drugs in UK, one would expect that the film would provide engaging fare. Far from it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film fails to connect with the audience due to its dull and boring narrative. One waits for the film to get gripping but it doesnu0026#39;t happen. Granted that the atmosphere in the film needed to be stifling, claustrophobic and depressing due to the theme but it still could have been made interesting by a better treatment of the mother son relationship and the angst of a 14 year old boy. In the present form the film is neither an engrossing documentary nor a gripping feature film. Actually it is a few notches below a docudrama too. It is not entertainment and the popcorn with you will become tasteless after some time. The scenes lack finesse. A boy wanting to be a man of the house is OK but the narrative follow up lacks conviction. Where there is sale of drugs there will be dimly lit corridors, shady characters, violence and cuss words. Fair enough but it should be absorbing for the audience.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film is unnecessarily depressing, pessimistic, morbid. It didnu0026#39;t have to be.”