Young Anes

Dylan Drummond brought us TOTH a couple of years ago – a documentary about a man trying to stop his son following him into a life of gang violence in Dundee. Now he’s back with another documentary that tries to lift the lid on life in the Whitfield area of the city. Drummond is certainly developing a directorial style, since it is immediately recognisable as his work.

Dundee is the teenage pregnancy capital of the UK and Drummond’s camera captures young mums – little more than children themselves - as they talk about life on their housing scheme.

More fragmented than TOTH, the film initially lacks a cohesive structure, and a rap – Whitfield Housing Scream – while not a bad piece of urban poetry, gets in the way of the narrative somewhat.

It is in the latter part of the film that this documentary really gets going, when it captures the thoughts of these disenfranchised kids musing on what it means to be a mum in this most difficult of circumstances.

This is a solid snapshot which comes across as more of a mood piece than TOTH. However, if Drummond had a little more faith in his subjects to talk about their experiences and had rounded the film out with more background information and a few less camera ticks, it could have been an excellent portrait. As it is, though interesting, it feels slightly incomplete.