Did anyone see Fallout last night?

Knife crime is becoming an increasingly pertinent problem in the UK nowadays, particularly in London, where 17 young people have died from knife-related incidents alone. As part of Channel 4’s Disarming Britain season, last night showed “Fallout”, a drama following the act of a knife crime by some teenagers and the fallout of it.

What I thought was good about it
- The handheld camera, which contributed to the gritty feel of the show.
- The acting, which was completely intense and authentic.
- The scene with the “you will know when I’m getting vexed” line. The repetition of “vex” made me think of Gladiator. Unintentionally amusing, but never mind.
- The ending. Downbeat, depressing, and completely the opposite of how things would end in a Hollywood film with no justice served, but realistic.
- The scene between the deceased boy’s mother, and Shanice, the girl who was in part responsible for his death towards the end. Whilst I absolutely wanted to throttle Shanice, it was very, very sad and evoked a tear from me.
- Lennie James’ performance as the tough black cop Joe. A brooding, serious and terrifying performance, even if his character stared at Shanice far more than was normal in a film that was attempting to tackle knife crime, not Lolitas.

What I thought was bad about it:
- The two females in it. I think the writers were trying to paint Shanice (played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw), the pretty one, as the tart-with-a-heart from Aylesbury Estate, but that didn’t wash with me. To me, she was just whore who was responsible for ending the life a good lad because he wasn’t into her like everyone else was. And the other girl, nicknamed Troll– don’t get me started on her. Whiny bitch.
-The good cop/bad cop routine between rigid, rule-following white policeman and tough but well-meaning black policeman. Cliche, cliche, cliche.
- The quantity of shitbags in the film. FFS. Not one repented for what they'd done.
- Characterising the boy that had died - Kwame - as different - intelligent, deep, and on his way out. It was a bit pat for me.

Overall, I thought it was a powerful drama, but with too many flaws and a muddled sense of what it wanted to achieve to be truly great. Your thoughts?