Harris Dickinson’s debut feature as writer and director, the drama Urchin, offers a stark portrayal of London’s homeless crisis, presenting a raw, unfiltered view of the city’s social realities in 2025. Moving away from romanticized or iconic depictions often seen in popular British cinema, the film situates itself firmly within the British social realist tradition, using its focus on marginalized lives to reveal the city’s divided and often unstable core.
Plot Overview: Mike’s Struggle with Homelessness and Recovery
Urchin begins with the character Mike, portrayed by Frank Dillane, a homeless addict navigating the streets of London. After an encounter where Mike chooses to rob a passerby who offers him food, he is arrested and receives an eight-month prison sentence. The narrative then shifts to Mike’s life post-incarceration, showing him sober and temporarily housed, working in a budget hotel kitchen. The film explores his fragile attempts at stability while exposing the systemic pressures that constrain people in his position.
Comparisons to Ken Loach and British Social Realism
The film echoes the style and tone of Ken Loach’s socially conscious filmmaking, particularly reminiscent of I, Daniel Blake, a 2016 drama highlighting the challenges faced by those at society’s margins. Dickinson uses real London locations and a naturalistic approach, blending professional actors with non-actors or those who could easily be mistaken for them, to enhance authenticity. Scenes portraying Mike’s interactions with overburdened social workers depict an overstretched welfare system struggling to provide adequate support.
Depicting London’s Stark Contrasts and Social Isolation
While Urchin shares thematic ties with earlier British social realist films, it avoids presenting its characters as heroic victims or moral lessons. Instead, Dickinson’s lens reveals subtle environmental and social conditions shaping Mike’s reality. One notable scene shows Mike and friends on a car park rooftop overlooking Canary Wharf, symbolizing the juxtaposition of London’s glamorous financial district against the precarious lives of its working poor and homeless population. The city appears as a space where these groups coexist physically but remain socially disconnected, much like in Mike Leigh’s Naked.
The Film’s Relevance Amid Ongoing Social Challenges
Urchin stands as a sobering examination of enduring issues faced by Britain’s most vulnerable. Dickinson’s film captures the persistent effects of austerity and the complex interplay between individual struggles and broader institutional failures. By focusing on the immediate realities of homelessness in London through a calm, steady narrative style, the drama invites reflection on what is required to address these social fractures effectively in the years ahead.
“Urchin‘s London most resembles that of Mike Leigh’s Naked: a city in which vagrants and working poor can exist at the center of the metropolis while remaining curiously disconnected from it.” ?Harris Dickinson, Writer/Director
