Rank

In the style of Peter Mullan, six boys from Govan Hill, Glasgow, await the arrival of a bus load of Somalian refugees. Their language is as rough as their sensibility. They spit on a tramp as they pass, verbally abuse the only one of their number with a darker skin and nurture anger without questioning its purpose.

They are not old enough to be a threat to society, reflecting their place and time with an attitude of inbred despair. The need to be seen as hard in a hard neighbourhood hides so much. Soon it appears, they do not hate the new arrivals, only pretend to do so. They are inquisitive and respond to the looks of amazed innocence on the faces of the black children with a mixture of fear and confusion.

David Yates's film is a terrific achievement. It covers a relevant concern - the integration of asylum seekers into deprived areas of a city - without moralistic pontification, or sentimentality. Robbie McCallum's script makes no concessions and the performances of Brian Dunn, Christopher Gorman, Ian Jarvie, William McLachlan, Rudi Neequaye and Stephen Ross are memorable, beyond expectation.

The cinematography is of the highest standard. Such intelligent use of camera and cast lifts Yates out of the pool of promising young directors into the front line of genuine hopefuls.

This work demands respect.