Blue Story Parent Guide

Gang life in London is divided by postcode, and best friends Marco (Michael Ward) and Timmy (Stephen Odubola) are on opposite sides of the conflict. Marco is from Peckham and Timmy is from Deptford, and the difference is a lot wider than just a few blocks. Having gone to school together for years, each does his best to protect his friend, but an escalating gang war makes that increasingly difficult. When Marco takes a nasty beating from the Deptford gang he blames Timmy for failing to protect him. Despite Timmy’s protestations that he didn’t even know about the assault, Marco swears revenge…

There are a mountain of content concerns here. Since most of the characters are in high school for a large portion of the music, the film depicts teenage drinking, drug use, sex, and violence. The most frequent issue is the profanity, with over 130 extreme profanities - perhaps that’s why it’s called the Blue Story. In fairness, that kind of language is exceedingly common in a gang environment, but that doesn’t make it any more pleasant or family-friendly.

Beyond the graphic nature of the plot, this isn’t as hardboiled a gang film as you might think. It actually feels strangely like an old after-school-special, with a heavy helping of overwrought drama, stilted dialogue, and odd plot “twists”. It doesn’t help that Rapman, the writer and director, pops up throughout the film to rap about the plot developments. While it’s an interesting narrative choice, it feels strangely out of place in a production with such intense violence.

To reinforce that after-school-special feeling, the Blue Story has a clear anti-gang message. The central thrust of the film is that gang violence, beyond being dangerous in and of itself, begets more violence and serious consequences for everyone in the communities it touches. I’m not criticizing that kind of positive messaging, but it is remarkably un-subtle. That might be an advantage for some audiences, but it does tend to feel a little over-the-top.

That positive message pales in comparison to the content issues though, making this completely unsuitable for family viewers. Perhaps older teens in need of a cautionary tale might make it through the film, but for viewers unfamiliar with the accents and slang of London street gangs, they may want to flick on the subtitles and keep a search engine open to keep up. If nothing else, Blue Story is clearly a personal effort by Rapman, and is vaguely interesting on that basis alone. However, unless you’re prepared for a storm of profanity, this isn’t a good option.