'Yardie (2018)' is a decent directorial debut that's confidently constructed and only comes up short, technically speaking, in a couple of key but ultimately kind of minor areas. The most impactful of these is its heavy-handed, tell-not-show narration that feels utterly unnecessary and only serves to reduce audience connection. A much, much smaller thing that also bugs me is the strange font choice that doesn't feel cohesive with the style otherwise presented. Of course, the latter of these problems has a lot less baring on the flick's quality than the former, but I still noticed it and it got to me. Anyway, the film picks up the pace after a slow start to become an entertaining and, at times, emotionally tense experience that takes some bold steps towards its finale. Unfortunately, it backtracks upon them somewhat, compromising upon what could've been an amazingly ambiguous ending to instead deliver a decisive yet admittedly quite dark and somewhat daring finish. A key character's arc is also sort of left incomplete, though this is by design and is, again, quite a brave choice even if it isn't necessarily all that satisfying. All of this culminates in a solid effort that doesn't really stick in your mind as much as you'd hope, instead playing out as a perfectly entertaining experience in the moment - despite the occasionally experience-breaking occurrence - but drifting from your mind pretty quickly after the credits have rolled. This is mainly because it doesn't feel, in retrospect, as though there's all that much going on in terms of narrative (as opposed to just plot), character and theme. 6/10
Review of Yardie
