'Rocks' (Sarah Gavron, 2019): Emily Oliver Struggles To Review A Film Because It Was Just So Joyful

Rocks (2019, dir. Sarah Gavron) is a film both concerned with the portrayal of, and also irrefutably a result of, simple and un-pretending joy. It is an effortless masterpiece. Or maybe it isn’t a masterpiece, but it’s the kind of film that invites you not to care. It is so unpretentious that it leaves you wondering whether you even watched a film at all. The faultless naturalism of the performances give an almost documentary-like atmosphere; you feel lucky to have been granted such a true and intimate look into the lives of these girls.

Music and song are interwoven throughout the narrative, blending seamlessly with the action, celebrating musicality as a universal language and acknowledging its duality in being central to both ethnic tradition and modern teenage culture. The value and necessity of community is explored through dance which characterizes the film’s bursting energy, creativity and vitality.

The centrality of friendship allows discussion of the divergence between the family that you are born into and the family that you choose. Set in a multi-ethnic community, family tradition is put at the forefront, portraying the vibrancy of the girls’ differing heritages. It does not ignore the harsh distinction between their cultural and economic backgrounds but also does not give social weight to this divide, focusing instead on the unifying force of their friendship.

And that friendship did not feel fabricated. The dialogue felt improvised and the laughter felt real. The sadness felt grounded and the resilience felt genuine. There are few filmmakers who would have been able to treat their subjects with such subtlety. It feels as though the girls are daisies in the grass and Gavron is just pointing them out to us, making sure nobody steps on them. The flowers are just left to grow. And it’s beautiful to watch. The use of handheld shots and phone camera shooting invites intimacy in every shot, allowing us to see what is important to the characters and showing how they experience the world around them. It feels fresh and modern; adding to the overarching and effective image that is being painted of what it means to be a young person in modern Britain.

In a time characterized by desensitization and a grey sort of purgatorial numbness, Rocks takes you gently by the hand and points to a different time, reminding you how good it feels to care. How dare it. As the credits rolled, I sat in the darkness pressing my hand to my chest, feeling like I had to stop my emotions from bursting out of it. I was having a Grinch moment, my small heart grew three sizes that day. So, the next cold autumn evening that you feel ready to languish in your socially-demanded cynicism and general loss of faith in humanity, do not, and I repeat, do not watch Rocks. It will melt your ice heart.

Rocks is now available on Netlfix & in cinemas across the UK.