“Yardie” is a film adaptation of the popular 1992 Black British pulp fiction novel by Jamaican-British Arthur, Victory Headly. The film follows Dennis “D” ( Aml Ameen) as a young boy in 1970s Jamaica who rises to the top of the streets in 1980s London and becomes hell-bent on avenging the death of his older brother Jerry Dread (Everaldo Creary.) This gripping crime drama is Idris Elba’s directorial debut.
Yardie begins in West Kingston, Jamaica in 1973 during the midst of a long-running war between two rival gangs, Spicer and Tappa, who are vying for domination of the streets. Eventually, the gang war grows out of control and leads to the death of an innocent bystander, a young girl named Claudette. The death of Claudette becomes the breaking point for Jerry Dread. He doesn’t want any more bloodshed and he decides to organize a truce between King Fox (Sheldon Shepherd), the leader of Spicer, and Skeets, the leader of Tappa. Being a DJ, Jerry decides to take his mobile sound system to “No Man’s Land,” a notoriously dangerous area dead in the middle between Spicer territory and Tappa territory. It is at this middle grown where Jerry decides to throw a local celebration in the name of peace to bring the people of West Kingston together. However, a night of celebration soon goes awry when Jerry is shot dead by a young boy name, Clancey Hibbert. Jerry’s death sends Dennis reeling into despair as he becomes consumed by rage and vengeance against Clancy.
10 years after Jerry’s death and under the wing of King Fox, Dennis has become apart of the gang world that Jerry stood firmly against. Dennis still seeking vengeance against Clancy gets into a violent altercation with someone he mistakenly believes to be Clancy. To keep Dennis out of further trouble, King Fox sends him to London to make a drug deal with a Hackney gangster named Rico (Stephen Graham.) But soon the deal goes left and Dennis takes the kilo to sell to another dealer and uses that opportunity to rise to the top of the streets in London. Drama ensues throughout the film as Rico seeks vengeance against Dennis, Dennis discovers that Clancy is living in London, innocent lives become threatened, and a long-held secret about Jerry’s death is finally brought to the light.
Yardie is deeper than a crime drama about entangled gang rivalries. Yardie is the story about Dennis’ personal journey and struggle between joining the righteous or joining the wicked. This is a story about a young boy becoming haunted by the death of his brother and carrying this ghost into his adulthood, which ultimately ends up hurting the people close to him. Dennis’ personal growth is a process of grief, confusion, anger, acceptance, and letting go before he is able to transcend into the light.
I think what’s also great about this film is the way it subtly touches on the migration of West Indian people who were looking for a better life in London. In doing so, Yardie showcases the Jamaican Diaspora in London well also briefly mentioning other parts of the world Jamaicans migrated to like New York and Miami.
Overall Yardie is a gritty crime drama that’s simultaneously heartfelt as you become closely connected to the internal war waging inside Dennis while watching him fight the external war waging around him in the streets of Jamaica and London. This film was a great launch to Idris Elba’s directing career.
Yardie premieres in theaters Friday, March 15.
