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Sweet Sixteen

Sweet Sixteen

Crime · Drama · 2002

Determined to have a normal family life once his mother gets out of prison, a Scottish teenager from a tough background sets out to raise the money for a home.

Movie details

Sweet Sixteen

“Life... it's about to hit the fan!”

2002 Crime · Drama 1h 46m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.0 / 10

Community rating

Determined to have a normal family life once his mother gets out of prison, a Scottish teenager from a tough background sets out to raise the money for a home.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Sweet Sixteen?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Drugstore Cowboy

Drugstore Cowboy

Drama · 1989

Portland, Oregon, 1971. Bob Hughes is the charismatic leader of a peculiar quartet, formed by his wife, Dianne, and another couple, Rick and Nadine, who skillfully steal from drugstores and hospital medicine cabinets in order to appease their insatiable need for drugs. But neither fun nor luck last forever.

Zero Day

Zero Day

Crime · 2003

Two troubled adolescents chronicle the events that ultimately lead up to a terrifying assault on their school.

Bully

Bully

Crime · 2001

A group of teenagers in South Florida enact a murder plot against their mutual bully, Bobby, who has emotionally, physically, and sexually abused them for years.

Little Odessa

Little Odessa

Drama · 1994

Long separated from his family, hitman Joshua returns to Brighton Beach for a contract killing for the Russian Mafia. His abusive father, Arkady, banned him from returning after Joshua committed his first murder. He takes up residence in a hotel, and soon everyone knows he has returned. He goes home to visit his dying mother, Irina, and prepares for the assassination, getting drawn back into the criminal community he left behind.

Ill Manors

Ill Manors

Crime · 2012

Ensemble film revolving around characters living in Forest Gate, London. Over the course of a few days, six inter-linking stories explore issues of drug use, prostitution and urban poverty.

Snowtown

Snowtown

Crime · 2011

Based on true events, 16 year-old Jamie falls in with his mother's new boyfriend and his crowd of self-appointed neighborhood watchmen, a relationship that leads to a spree of torture and murder.

Trainspotting

Trainspotting

Drama · 1996

Heroin addict Mark Renton stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends --Sick Boy, Begbie, Spud and Tommy. He also has an underage girlfriend, Diane, along for the ride. After cleaning up and moving from Edinburgh to London, Mark finds he can't escape the life he left behind as Begbie and Sick Boy come knocking.

The Krays

The Krays

Drama · 1990

Twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray are raised in east London, under the influence of their hateful but doting mother Violet. As they grow up, Ronnie's violent nature takes over, and Reggie follows his brother's lead. The two become notorious crime lords who rule over the East End club scene. But at the height of their power, the brothers veer into different lives, giving the older crime bosses a chance to reclaim what the Krays took from them.

Requiem for a Dream

Requiem for a Dream

Crime · 2000

The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island residents are shattered when their addictions run deep.

Ted K

Ted K

Drama · 2021

An exploration of Ted Kaczynski's life in Lincoln, Montana in the years leading up to his arrest as The Unabomber.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Ken Loach

Written by

Paul Laverty

Martin Compston

Martin Compston

Liam

Annmarie Fulton

Annmarie Fulton

Chantelle

William Ruane

William Ruane

Pinball

M

Michelle Abercromby

Suzanne

M

Michelle Coulter

Jean

G

Gary McCormack

Stan

T

Tommy McKee

Rab

Court is in session

Put Sweet Sixteen on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.