I'm pretty bored of gritty drug dramas, but thankful that I didn't pass this one up.In short the film follows the day in the life of a dealer: Shifty and his best friend Chris. Chris left Shifty high and dry and made a break for Manchester after a tragic event. And the beginning of the film sees his return to make reparations with his old friend. Chris used to be a dealer but is slowly building a future for himself. Shifty sells drugs. He earns plenty of money and is a slave to the job - but he's not living a champagne lifestyle or snorting his wares. Instead he's living a meagre existence. Travelling by foot to do drops and living with his brother Rez - under the pretence that he's a little lost and hopeless - which is wearing a little thin on his close family.In the following 24 hours, Chris tags alongside Shifty. Chris is witness to a pick up, some drops and the desperation of addiction while walking his old haunts. He advices Shifty to get out while he can. Both Chris and Shifty have some unresolved issues but their bondage triumphs. We see the scars, torment and betrayal wrought from both dealers and users, especially to those closest to them.The film is neither overtly violent, nor does it glorify drug use, or drug careers. Quite the opposite. There's a few small laughs thrown in. It is not a laugh a minute like Adam and Paul, Trainspotting or Pulp Fiction. It is however a little uncomfortable to watch, mainly because it's depressingly familiar. I found myself wishing the characters out of their dead end and empty lives.Sadly I couldn't find any love in my heart for Shifty, wanting to see some morsel of remorse for his crimes. On the other hand Chris I forgave early on. Both Chris and Rez were both likable.I can't help but like Daniel Mays, his face is just fantastic. Nitin Ganatra is wonderful and Riz Ahmed is flawless. I'm not sure if the film could have worked without any of them. I'd like to see them all in something a little more jolly!This can't have been the easiest script to act, but all parties do so with aplomb. Great pace, great cast, great shots - a cohesive love laboured piece of artistry.

This little gritty film, written and directed by Eran Creevy, is being cleverly marketed for release in the US by Breaking Glass Pictures as a prescription form for drugs and nothing could be more appropriate for a film that examines the intricate manner drugs such as cocaine, crack, etc have on little sectors of England: here, instead of London, the story is set in a seedy East London/Essex border country where drugs seem to affect everyone in one way or the other.A bright, well-schooled Muslim lad named Shifty (Riz Ahmed, in a very fine performance) who lives with his straight mature brother Rez (Nitin Ganatra) who only tries to keep his Muslim family together. Shifty is a young crack cocaine dealer with a regular clientèle - a addicted building site worker Trevor (Jay Simpson) married to a disillusioned wife (who thought he had given up drugs) with three kids, a crack smoking old lady Valerie (Francesca Annis) in her familiar looking flat, framed photograph of a daughter, grand daughter on the mantle. etc. Shifty sees his life quickly spiral out of control when his best friend Chris (Daniel Mays) returns home after an absence of several years due to a dark secret that we only learn about at film's end. Stalked by a customer desperate to score at all costs, and with his family about to turn their back on him for good, Shifty must out-run and out-smart a rival drug dealer Glen (Jason Flemyng) intent on setting him up for a big fall. As his long time friend Chris, confronts the dark past he left behind him (nightmares abound!), Shifty is forced to face up to the violent future he's hurtling towards. And oddly it is the presence of Chris that finally, after years of remorse over a bad decision, is there for Shifty.Much of what makes this little film work so well is the writer/director's decision to make this a series of character studies than a series of mayhem scenes. Yes, there are brutal scenes that represent the drug world as it functions on all levels, but in the final analysis it is the story of the people reacting to the drug culture - dealers, family, druggies, victims, friends, and children of all these. It is a very potent little film. The only disadvantage is that there (at this time) are no subtitles, and the various forms of English accents are at times not understandable. This is a powerful little film that delves more deeply than other films about the drug culture and its impact on society. Grady Harp,

It is hard to believe they made this film for £100k. I wasn't expecting it to be great, but it was far better than I expected. I liked the two main characters Shifty and Chris and the whole ensemble were very good.Riz Ahmed and Daniel Mays are both very good actors, I had seen a fine performance by Daniel Mays in Mike Leigh's 'All or Nothing' but it was the first time I had seen Riz. Although they aren't really well known outside TV and smaller budget stuff, both these actors are going to be big names in the future. I have great regard for all the actors who appear in Mike Leigh films and Daniel Mays will be up there with Tim Spall, Jim Broadbent, Stephen Rea, Phil Davis to name a few. It is a fairly simple story of a drug dealer who runs into big trouble, it is a good portrait of the seedy world of drugs and the horrors they bring. Although very different, I would recommend this film to anyone who liked 'Sexy Beast' 'Dead Man's Shoes'.They did a brilliant job with £100k.

Not sure how this film has 6 out of 10 but British people tend to big up British films even if the aren't that good.Shifty is pretty boring, slowly paced and lacking any interesting action. The DVD cover emphasises the soundtrack which is mundane.Nothing much happens, Shifty gets chased by the police and gets mugged.He deals drugs and its not that interesting. ITV or BBC would make a drama like this. There is no grittiness. Where Shifty lives looks pretty OK to me.I would recommend LAYER CAKE as a better drug film or HARRY BROWN for grittiness or the original GET CARTER for a real 10/10 classic.I will not watch Shifty again and it will be going to a charity shop.Not recommended.