Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Shifty (Riz Ahmed) is a low level drug dealer living under his older brother. His former best friend Chris (Daniel Mays) returns into his life. As Shifty struggles against a competitor in the drug world, Chris follows him around. They reconnect and confront their past.This is a character driven indie that excels more on the character work. While I do recognize Daniel Mays, this is all about watching Riz Ahmed before his recent breakout performances. He has a great quiet intensity that surprises. When he confronts the young couple for their loud music, he has such a cold steadiness that he becomes mesmerizing. The plot isn't much and this isn't anything exceptional other some pretty compelling performances.

I'm pretty bored of gritty drug dramas, but thankful that I didn't pass this one up.In short the film follows the day in the life of a dealer: Shifty and his best friend Chris. Chris left Shifty high and dry and made a break for Manchester after a tragic event. And the beginning of the film sees his return to make reparations with his old friend. Chris used to be a dealer but is slowly building a future for himself. Shifty sells drugs. He earns plenty of money and is a slave to the job - but he's not living a champagne lifestyle or snorting his wares. Instead he's living a meagre existence. Travelling by foot to do drops and living with his brother Rez - under the pretence that he's a little lost and hopeless - which is wearing a little thin on his close family.In the following 24 hours, Chris tags alongside Shifty. Chris is witness to a pick up, some drops and the desperation of addiction while walking his old haunts. He advices Shifty to get out while he can. Both Chris and Shifty have some unresolved issues but their bondage triumphs. We see the scars, torment and betrayal wrought from both dealers and users, especially to those closest to them.The film is neither overtly violent, nor does it glorify drug use, or drug careers. Quite the opposite. There's a few small laughs thrown in. It is not a laugh a minute like Adam and Paul, Trainspotting or Pulp Fiction. It is however a little uncomfortable to watch, mainly because it's depressingly familiar. I found myself wishing the characters out of their dead end and empty lives.Sadly I couldn't find any love in my heart for Shifty, wanting to see some morsel of remorse for his crimes. On the other hand Chris I forgave early on. Both Chris and Rez were both likable.I can't help but like Daniel Mays, his face is just fantastic. Nitin Ganatra is wonderful and Riz Ahmed is flawless. I'm not sure if the film could have worked without any of them. I'd like to see them all in something a little more jolly!This can't have been the easiest script to act, but all parties do so with aplomb. Great pace, great cast, great shots - a cohesive love laboured piece of artistry.

Another perfect example of how a film - regardless of it's budget can still be hugely effective if the story is told well. It's a pretty simple tale about a guy called Chris returning home to the town that he left behind, still tormented by the guilt that drove him away. His best friend Shifty has chosen a potentially destructive life path, and over the course of the day they attempt to re connect and face up to their problems, both past and present. Both Daniel Mays and Riz Ahmed are astonishingly good in this film. The subtlety of their relationship is believable and they really make you care about them. Jason Flemyng is suitably gruff as the local hood, and it's here that Chris has the chance to prove his loyalty to Shifty, where he once failed. Clearly shot on the cheap, this is one of the best British films I have seen in the past few years. Will be keeping an eye on all involved.

Shifty, a young crack cocaine dealer in London, sees his life quickly spiral out of control when his best friend returns home.Stalked by a customer desperate to score at all costs, and with his family about to turn their back on him for good, Shifty must out-run and out-smart a rival drug dealer, intent on setting him up for a big fall.As his long time friend Chris, confronts the dark past he left behind him, Shifty is forced to face up to the violent future he's hurtling towards....A stunning British drama that focuses on people rather than drugs, is what Shifty is all about. Having the main protagonist be a Muslim, is a marvellous move from the makers, as it adds a whole new angle, to what could have been another average Drug film.Everyone puts in a bravura performance, and all the way through the film, you feel Shifty's 'point of no return' as you see his life start to spiral out of control.The ending likes to think that it is cleverer than what it actually is, and it feels a little like the end of 'Silence of the lambs', but it's still an incredible film.Funny in parts, depressing in others, it shows desperation of addicts, and also empathy for people who take drugs to escape reality, and than people facing up to reality.