ROCKS

Sarah Gavron has created a truly collective film, collaborating almost exclusively with women and teenage girls, developing - through workshops and improvisation - an extraordinarily tender, vital and deeply moving portrait of girlhood and coming of age, where friendship becomes a lifeline in the darkest moments.

Rocks is the nickname of Shola, a fifteen-year-old from East London who suddenly finds herself alone after her mother, struggling with depression, abandons the family. Now left with her younger brother and only a few coins for groceries, she does her best to maintain appearances: she goes to school, keeping up a daily routine. Soon, the situation becomes impossible to manage. After several nights spent at friends’ houses and in cheap hostels, she must make an agonising decision.

Gavron steers clear of the clichés of grim social realism. Instead, she relies on the raw intensity of her young cast and the vibrant energy of female friendship – wise, open and emotionally attuned. 

ROCKS also presents a vibrant picture of the diverse cultures from which the protagonists originate, prioritising community and avoiding any victimisation. It highlights the transformative power of solidarity. Even if its ending is far from a fairy-tale one, Gavron’s film radiates the strength that comes from togetherness. It is, in many ways, a feminist statement: Rocks and her friends are resilient and capable – they only need to be trusted.

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Text: Karolina Kosińska