Urchin

Mike is a young, aggressive homeless man who needs money. After getting into a fight with his best friend, he sees an opportunity to rob a gullible passerby. This throws him into an odyssey, where the goal is a life with a regular job and warm relationships. However, getting back on his feet proves to be difficult.

Urchin alternates between distant satire, intimate feel-good moments, psychedelic dreams, and critical social realism in its portrayal of society's marginalized. The protagonist Mike, convincingly played by Frank Dillane, is dragged through absurd and caricatured situations as a homeless person, low-wage earner, and welfare client, as well as through intimate and heartwarming encounters. What inner and outer forces prevent Mike from coping with life? Director Harris Dickinson has created a moving story about the less fortunate in society and how we as human beings should – and should not – meet them, complete with a celebratory nod to the power of karaoke. The film was awarded the FIPRESCI Prize (the International Critics Prize) in the Un Certain Regard section at this year's Cannes Film Festival.