BEST OF FESTS

URCHIN

2025 / 99 min / color

The titular Urchin (an award-winning turn by Frank Dillane) is a young Londoner navigating a precarious existence on the streets, trapped in a cycle of addiction and a relentless daily struggle for survival. He spends his days begging for change while searching for a place to lie his head down and safeguard his meagre possessions. When a stranger offers to buy him a meal, Mike seizes the moment with a chillingly persuasive charm. He’s a chameleon, capable of switching in an instant from disarming innocence to predatory manipulation. His sudden, explosive bursts of aggression are hauntingly juxtaposed with his carefree boyishness and desperate, aching need for human connection. The directorial debut of popular British actor Harris Dickinson is a tribute to one of his cinematic touchstones, Ken Loach. Much like Loach, Dickinson turns an empathetic lens toward people on the margins of society, revealing their profound vulnerability when they’re caught in the gears of a broken system. Urchin is a wryly humorous yet heart-wrenching exploration of social apathy and the unrelenting grip of self-destructive patterns. It’s also a scathing indictment of the state’s systemic failure to address the homelessness crisis. It was one of the most acclaimed films at the most recent Cannes Film Festival.

• MFF w Cannes – FIPRESCI Prize (Un Certain Regard), Best Actor (Frank Dillane – Un Certain Regard)
• Molodist Kyiv IFF – Best Actor (Frank Dillane)