“A special film that conveys resonant ideas in a clear, honest approach.”

The path to adulthood is filled with challenges and diversions that can either be predicted based on the experiences of those who came before us or entirely unexpected in cases where each journey is different for every individual. No two childhoods are alike, even if there are familiar patterns that make stories about the process of growing up consistently resonant. These qualities are the foundation for Ish, the poetic and deeply moving feature directorial debut of Imran Perretta, playing in Venice’s Critics’ Week section. It tells the story of Ishmael, a rebellious twelve-year-old boy who comes from a middle-class Muslim family living in a seemingly ordinary English suburb, navigating his pre-teen years. He is preparing to grow up and hopefully find a sense of belonging regardless of the cost, and hopes that with age comes a sense of comfort and the possibility of escaping his placid but otherwise dull everyday existence, wondering what lies on the other side of childhood. Elegant and well-crafted social realism that evokes early Ken Loach and a touch of Andrea Arnold in certain parts, but filtered through a very different cultural lens that immediately adds an abundance of value to the project, Ish is a wonderfully ambitious, charming film. It may appear small on the surface, but it has many bold ideas simmering beneath, creating an effective exploration of common themes as insightful as they are genuinely moving, even at their most familiar.

We can easily recognise the core themes that guide Ish – this is primarily a story of a protagonist who is standing on the edge of adolescence, preparing for the next chapter in his life, and one that he hopes is going to provide him with the education that seems to be experienced by all those who came before him. It’s a very familiar subject, and one that Perretta is not too focused on portraying as unique. Coming-of-age stories have become extremely common, to the point where it can be difficult to differentiate them, particularly as they tend to draw from the same sources of inspiration as well as using similar techniques, only adjusted in terms of their specific storylines. Yet there is still value in these stories, especially when, like this film, they establish more than just one-dimensional depictions of characters growing up. Ish portrays an England that we know exists but which rarely gets shown on screen, at least not in the manner in which we see Perretta approaching these themes.  This is a film in which culture interweaves with subjects such as peer pressure and the search for validation, creating a striking portrait of a young protagonist in search of meaning in a world that confuses him, realising that the clarity he expected to find as he grew older is not automatic but rather developed through being receptive to the new experiences that await him, even if they can often be quite difficult to embrace as anything other than obstacles that stand in his way.

The heart of Ish is the central performance delivered by Farhan Hasnat, in his first credited acting role, which may be difficult to believe considering how comfortable he appears to be on camera. Every unique aspect of this film is filtered through his performance, which is honest and vulnerable but also has a forcefulness and a sense of juvenile mischief that makes it a multilayered depiction of a young protagonist trying to reconcile the unbearable weight of his heritage with a desire to forge his own path, his identity shifting consistently and proving to be far more fluid than he imagined. It’s a simple performance on the surface, but one that has extraordinary layers that the director manages to explore extensively over the course of the film, which is primarily a detailed character study of a young man as he makes his way towards an uncertain future. The stark monochrome photography captures every vibrant aspect of the film, with the seemingly ordinary neighbourhood and its surroundings rendered in vivid detail. It’s a small visual choice that does not bear too much relevance on its own, but the unfurnished aesthetic, coupled with the direct, unambiguous approach to the storytelling, reveals many complexities that guide the film and make it a profound examination of a young man navigating a challenging chapter in his childhood.

The small, intimate appearance of this film should not be misleading – Ish is an unexpectedly complex film, one that intentionally conceals its myriad of themes beneath a more simple exterior, capturing the experience of being young and carefree while also highlighting the fact that its protagonist is wise beyond his years in certain ways, desperate to break out of his state of naivete and ready to earn his place within his rapidly changing world. It moves at a deliberate pace, being very careful about the ideas and what they communicate, since it could have been perceived as being overly flippant about the struggles of coming of age when you exist as a minority on one extreme, or becoming too heavy-handed and sentimental on the other. Perretta finds a good balance between the two and allows the core themes to flourish organically and with a precise, meaningful attention to detail. It doesn’t do anything particularly innovative, but in the case of such a film consistency is a valuable commodity, especially in terms of crafting a meaningful, spirited portrait of a character who is both resilient and vulnerable. The contrast between the two is the foundation of a very special film that may seem intimate at a glance, but has enough heart and soul to hold our attention throughout, conveying resonant ideas in a clear, honest approach.