The Young Offenders (2016)

The Young Offenders: Directed by Peter Foott. With Alex Murphy, Chris Walley, Hilary Rose, Dominic MacHale. Two teenage boys cycle 160km on stolen bikes pursued by police to find a missing bale of cocaine worth 7 million euro. Set around the real event of Ireland’s biggest cocaine seizure in 2007 of 440 million euro.

“Why canu0026#39;t there be more films like this? The Young Offenders has everything I would look for in a breakout piece: a unique storyline, a brilliant cast of unknown actors, a beautiful setting and effortlessly hilarious writing. There are definite elements of Guy Richie and Shane Meadows in this production and anyone who is tired of formulaic Hollywood bilge should appreciate itu0026#39;s originality.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAlex Murphy and Chris Walley lead the way with excellent debut performances. They can be a tad wooden at times, but this is overridden by their natural comic timing and ability to produce genuinely heart-warming moments. Hilary Rose bounces off them perfectly and deserves to go on to bigger and better things on the back of this.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe finale is possibly a bit overcooked but that would be my only real criticism of this film. One of the better low-profile movies I have seen in recent years, highly recommended.”