User reviews

Being the directing and/or screenwriting debut of a well-known actor always loads a movie with a lot of baggage and expectations, for every critical darling like "Good Will Hunting" and "Gone Baby Gone" you get a forgettable "In the Land of Blood and Honey" or "Déficit". The baggage only gets heavier when it also happens to be openly based on the actor's own life story. The last such case of this double-duty debut I can think of lead to the multi-award winning and nominated "Lady Bird" by Greta Gerwig, so... no pressure.

"Farming" is British actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje's telling of his own life story having been "farmed out" as a baby in the late 1960s to a couple in Tilbury. This was a common practice with African, mostly Nigerian, couples in the UK, where they would hire white, British foster parents to care for their children in the hope that it would lead to better lives for them. Many of these white families were working-class, not indifferent to the pay involved in fostering and unprepared for the unique challenges that the race relations of the practice could lead to. Adewale's film avatar Enitan is also farmed out, taken back for a few years by his biological parents to their native Nigeria, has constant identity crises after his return to England and these result in him joining a white supremacist skinhead gang.

As a testament to its staying cultural impact, Dave Chappelle's "Black Klansman" character is probably the first thing that comes to mind when picturing a black person joining a white supremacist group, but the situation is not even remotely played for laughs here. For the most part, "Farming" is brutal, Enitan's crisis and isolation, strong enough to make him want to join any group that'll take him even if it's just to hate on him, is greatly portrayed in all its troubling phases by Damson Idris (the actor playing him as a child, along with the rest of the child performers are unfortunately a lot less successful). Damson is not alone in carrying the movie, his strongest peer being an electrifying John Dagleish, playing the skinhead gang's leader with such power that one could understand Eni's wish to follow him, even through the obvious hate. Keeping the film from becoming monotonously bleak is an incredibly stylish production design (even if some locations are clearly too modern for their time setting) and the occasional gorgeous, almost classic, grainy stock, high-contrast photography coupled with a great selection of songs related to the Black British experience.

Among the rest of the cast, Kate Beckinsale is to be noted as she's never before been seen playing a character like this toxic-yet-watchable mother, and she does it well, it's just a shame that the character itself is almost a stock one in modern drama thanks to "Tonya", "The Fighter" and the already-mentioned "Lady Bird". AAA playing the avatar of his own father is interesting too, for the role this might have in his own process of dealing with the events depicted.

For all its audiovisual strengths the movie unfortunately falls short on the story department specially near the end. In an attempt to make the previous brutality end in less of a downer note, the final minutes try to wrap everything up a tad too nicely. This along with some unsure pacing decisions denote the nature of this movie as an opera prima, fortunately not to the extent of detracting from the end result though. Finally, considering the U.S.'s role as the leading cultural force in the world, where most of the art related to the race relations of black people originates from, it is refreshing to see a different aspect of these as they happen in other countries, specially when they're told so vividly by creatives who've lived through and been inspired by them.

I was not aware of the "farming" practice... But i'm "happy" - kind of - to have discovered it with this movie. The only fact that it is based on the writer's life made it so strong and so, deep! I recommend this movie to anyone interested into this topic - or anyone who enjoy great movies! There is some images that really hit at the right place... Damson Idris is really something... His role must have been hard to do but he nailed it like... NAILED IT!... And what to say about Kate Beckinsale, simply stunning!!! Seriously, are you still reading ?.... Go watch this movie, and hit like NOW!

Movies make an impact on the industry and society as a whole because of how they make the audience feel long after the credits roll. The filmmakers take into consideration the totality of the viewer's experience (sights, sounds, emotions, mind). After watching this movie, I felt extremely disturbed with more questions than answers. The audience comes into the movie heavily invested in the story of Enitan and we go through all the heartbreak and humiliation that he experiences. But we don't get to experience the emotional reward of seeing his rehabilitation and moment of self-actualization. It's just presented to us in text towards the end with no explanation of how Ms. Dapo and the others reformed him or what made him come to grips with his identity. This is a serious flaw.

This is a really disturbing story. I feel so sad for Enitan, I cannot possibly imagine what he went through in his childhood. His transformation is remarkable. In the final ending it reveals who Enitan is, and I'm shocked by the revelation. It brings the film to another level of emotional climax.

A story that needed to be told - moving! A good interpretaion of a troubled UK - in troubled times - Good performance by Beckinsale - stole the show

Suicide Squad's Adewale AkinnuoyeAgbaje turns writer/director to revisit his own youth in a striking if unsophisticated biopic. As a child, Enitan's Nigerian parents have him raised by a white family in '60s London - the 'farming' that the title refers to. As a teen (Damson Idris, compelling), Enitan falls in with a white-supremacist skinhead gang. Yes, really. The shocking true story is undeniably fascinating, but it's underserved by the somewhat unpolished filmmaking; at times the low budget feels all too apparent. Still, Idris shows true potential, and Kate Beckinsale plays pleasingly against type as Enitan's workingclass adoptive mum.

Another reviewer on here stated they actually knew the author / subject of this movie growing up. You should listen to his review.

For a real review of the Tilbury Skins just use your favourite search engine and look up "Tilbury Skins BBC Radio 1980" and you will find a real news report on how 'The Sun' made up a story about how bad the skins were and staged photos and an interview.

Those negative reviews for this movie are a joke. People need to leave their personal feelings and viewpoints out of it when they are reviewing a movie. And those petty enough to call the director out as a "liar," claiming "this never happened" nonsense is equally ridiculous; it's a movie, created to entertain and or educate. Who cares if it's fact or fiction? The people with this complaint probably believe that Hollywood trash like "Pearl Harbor" is not mostly fiction. On to the technical aspects of this movie, (something that actually matters), "Farming" is a beautifully, artfully shot slice of eye candy, which is ironic considering the grotesquely ugly themes of this difficult movie. Kate Beckinsale is utterly believable as the Cockney speaking Londoner who brings extra cash into the house by raising the Nigerian children left in her care by parents who don't have the means to raise them. Growing up in a completely White surrounding, where most everyone seems to be at least a little racist, and sometimes intensely racist against the people who's skin color is the same as young Enitan, the Nigerian boy, thrust into this alien world where everyone looks different from him. This film is basically about self identity, and how our surroundings and upbringing shape the person we become, and how our minds work. So although Enitan is Black, he grows up like his peers, despising people with black skin. What an insane and unique theme for a film..FINALLY something different. When Enitan joins up with the skinhead gang who had been torturing him, things become quite intense indeed. He calls himself Andy and shaves off his offending afro, so desperate to be among the people he relates to, even as they hate him and abuse him to no end. Movies about skinhead culture are rare, maybe one appears every 10 years or so. This one stands out with the best of them, including "This Is England," "Romper Stomper," and is especially similar in tone to "Made In Britain" with Tim Roth. Also worthy of praise is the acting in "Farming," as everyone turns in intensely believable performances. John Dagleish gives an especially ferocious performance as 'Levi,' the leader of the Tilbury skinheads, and Damson Idris' portrayal of the tortured, self loathing Enitan is brave and faultless. This movie is destined for cult status as it finds it's right audience. Those pathetic 1 star reviews prove that this film reached the wrong audience. Oh well, "Blade Runner" was also a flop when it first came out, so only time will tell. I recommend "Farming" to fans of edgy cinema that doesn't shy away from uncomfortable scenarios, and also to those interested in the Skinhead youth culture of the 70's and 80's. Similar to "The Krays" and "Legend," thankfully this is also a British production, so it manages to avoid the sappy, moralizing and PC garbage that Hollywood feels the need to inject into it's productions.

Racist is terrible but it happened. History is heavy but this movie let us know what it was and learnt from it is the most important.

The people giving 10 stars to this movie must be getting some kind of royalties or something... , I thought this film would be something like lion but it wasn't, The movie is poorly executed, For me personally I found some of the actors if you can call them actors completely lacking in any acting skills whatsoever you might as well just got someone off the street Such very poor acting so amateur it's amazing they got away with it, when you've got acting that bad it takes away from the movie. Don't waste your time,

For what this is, the film deserves a top score. This is a very subjective opinion from a fellow farmee - it is astonishing there is still so little information available on the project between the 1960 - 1990 & how specifically Nigerians were affected. I'm sure there are plenty that would like to know more about their experiences but will struggle to find much. The film paints a perfect picture of the time & articulates the challenge of identity with aplomb.

Impactful, surprising and well made. Farming is a great movie although not award winning it certainly makes an impact .

In the early 1990s while dinning in an African restaurant in Los Angeles, I bumped into Adewale - he'd heard my English accent as I spoke with my West African wife and struck up a conversation. We exchanged numbers and agreed to meet up again having mentioned our mutual interest in the movie industry. He was just breaking into Hollywood and I fancied myself a screenwriter. Adewale shared the phenomenon of 'farming the children,' recounting his own experiences under that abdication of parental responsibility. Since we're both Londoners of similar age we shared stories of our youth in the late seventies. I spent that period of my life deeply immersed in the British punk rock scene, itself a hub for the skinhead and mod revivals. I have no recollection of Adewale mentioning his peculiar involvement in a gang of ultra-violent white racist skinheads during this era; perhaps shame dictated he avoid speaking of such an astonishing episode in his life.What I do know is that his movie's portrayal of nineteen-seventies white working-class English people and of the subcultures of their children is absurdly cartoonish and trite. The neo-Nazi, psycho-skin trope has been a reliable contemporary Hammer Horror-like monster which 'Farmed' disappointingly enjoins. It's unfortunate since this era's youth is redolent with story lines worth telling - and worth telling accurately. The working-class English who lived during that time are a kaleidoscope of characters and attitudes worthy of honest examination as are their interactions with immigrants and their English-born children. To portray them as generally bigoted, oafish, humourless and hyper-aggressive is to indulge a stereotype no less insulting than the black pimp or the inscrutable Asian. Nigerian farmed children have unique and lamentable stories, but for me this film failed to capture the emotional complexity and profundity of the arrangement due to heavy-handed poetic license of the writer/director.

There was a real story there but wasn't written/executed as well as it could have. Pacing felt rushed. Viewer couldn't connect/sympathise with characters.

This was by far one of the best movies I have seen this year. I do not know why the rating is so bad. This movie is by far better than some of the movies that have received Oscars including Moonlight.

Farming is an extremely tough movie to watch. Every scene comes down on you... Hard enough to either make you cry out in pain, anger or just good old plain frustration. I couldn't stop cursing!

The fact that it did invoke some emotion at times meant it's worth more than a 1 or 2. Not much more though which is a shame. With (a lot) more character depth this sad story could have been a gripping drama.

Wally Badger, aka Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, is misleading his intended audience with a view to making a profit. Unbeknown to him, because he failed to do proper research, the Skinhead gang he claims to of belonged to, have been written about many times online and in print. The BBC even recorded a documentary detailing some of their activities. The evidence that suggests his story is pure fantasy, will be damaging to him to say the least.

Spoke to my own experience if being a African not living in Africa and trying so desperately to find belonging in a new home. Fantastic film!

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

In the 1960s and 70s, poor Nigerian families would loan their children to British couples while they went away to try and attain a better life. Ingrid (Kate Beckinsale) and her husband are one such couple, taking in Enitan (Damson Idris), from Femi (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and his wife, who struggles to blend in. As a young man in the early 1980s, he has difficulty coming to terms with his own identity, and after a run in with Levi (John Dagleish) and his gang of skinheads, descends into a downward spiral of destruction that threatens to rip everything apart.

With the rise of racist ideology rising back up in society at the moment, what could now be seen as a period piece in the shape of the early 1980s, serves as a fitting template to set a story, at a time when it was a lot more blatant and uncensored. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, a rising star after last year's Dark Money (despite having an unpronounceable name!), here showcases his writing and directing debut, as well as providing an integral supporting role, in a tale he probably had some first hand experience of.

It's a startling practice, that I like probably many others, wasn't aware went on, and it certainly provides riveting potential for some powerful drama. Lead star Idris has an effective presence, and delivers a strong performance, with some reliable, sturdy support from the likes of Beckinsale, Dagleish, and of course Agbaje himself. And there's some suitably unsettling depictions of racist violence that get under your skin. Sadly, it's all executed in a completely uninvolving and ineffective manner, never getting you to feel for any of these characters, or flesh them out in any meaningful way.

Agbaje obviously has a passion for film, and depicting accounts of racial aggravation/tension in his adopted home. Hopefully, this is just a little blip on the path to something greater. **

The timing of this film must be written in the stars. It is an original twist on a themes of family/ racism / fascism. Profound moments of child craving for a family and intimacy, alongside abusive grooming. It punches you in the stomach. Kudos to the writer/director who worked tirelessly to get the project on screen an the major U.K film funders stayed away from it. He also took the project to Creative England's iFeatures but didn't make the cut... In a way, it works to the writer/directors hand to have a told a bold British story based on a True Story with Hanway films. Watch & Support playing now!

Absurd plot which pretends to be based on reality. Improbably old skinheads (the lead skin was 36!) Perhaps there was a good story here; this wasn'i it.