“Blue Story” Gets Hard-Hitting U.S. Trailer

Based on a popular YouTube series, Blue Story is the controversial new crime drama from the UK. Written and directed by Rapman, the thriller stars Stephen Odubola and Micheal Ward as Timmy and Marco, best friends at a high school in Peckham from different sides of the tracks. When Marco gets jumped by some of Timmy's gang member pals, it kicks off a deadly rift between them and real-life gangs Peckham Boys and Ghetto Boys.

The film was released to acclaim in the UK last year, but was also the source of much controversy. At a screening in Birmingham, a machete fight broke out, prompting some theaters to cancel the rest of their showings. Even during filming, Rapman had trouble getting agreements to shoot in the neighborhoods he wanted given the violence of the film. Still, the film earned a tidy profit and Micheal Ward later won the BAFTA Rising Star Award, beating out the likes of Awkwafina and Kelvin Harrison, Jr.

Check out the trailer below.

Blue Story hits select U.S. theaters on Friday, March 20.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.