Love, life, loss & London.

When bridging that clumsy gap between childhood and adulthood, certain things are universal – awkward sex, first loves, getting hammered on cheap booze, the resulting hangovers, making new friends, losing old ones, hating your parents for little reason. There are, however, certain things you only get with a London adolescence.

A city of millions, with a diversity and an energy unlike anywhere else, the story of growing up in The Big Smoke will cover every conceivable narrative. It can be rough, it can be exhilarating, and believe it or not, it can be pretty boring at times. Believe me, I’ve been there.

Despite the rich tapestry of London youth, it’s always been a bit disappointing then that cinema so often plays the cliché card. With hoodies, gangsters, and council estate delinquency abound, so many films are tempted into the easy, hyperbolic route, all too eager to push stereotypes, even if the intentions are honourable.

To truly do a London-based coming-of-age tale justice, to really get to the distinct heart of London youth; honesty, authenticity, and empathy are a must.

With big dreams, loyal friends, and an adoring brother, young Rocks (Bukky Bakray) is living her best life. Her world, however, is turned upside down when she returns from school to find her mother gone. Determined to stick with her brother and avoid the care system, Rocks desperately tries to live a normal life, but as things become too tough, and her secret harder to hide, there’s only one source of support left to turn to - her friends.

With boys notable by their absence, Rocks makes no bones about what it is. This is a girl’s tale through and through. It’s a deeply empathetic story of girls on the verge of adulthood, free from the hassle of boys and free to showcase their talents, ambitions, and dreams.

For something as heavily boy-focused as the coming-of-age genre, it’s a genuine breath of fresh air to see a story so devoid of a male presence, and Rocks makes full use of this to tell a tale full of blistering authenticity, entirely from a female viewpoint. From Rocks herself to her friendship group to the city around her, the film positively buzzes with a candidness and veracity that you just can’t fake.

For any young characters, especially ones from backgrounds that could so easily be caricatured, it’s absolutely crucial that their story is told from an empathetic place, and while the film never pulls its punches, Rocks has empathy in spades.

With a naturalistic eye and a sympathetic ear, Sarah Gavron’s vision for Rocks, her friends, and her desperate situation is refreshingly free of judgement and sensationalism. With scenes played out like we’re overhearing conversations at a bus stop or the school canteen, Gavron lets us become one of Rocks’ gang, and after the heartache of her mum abandoning her, we’re right there on the streets of Hackney with Rocks and Emmanuel as they duck and dive to survive.

With the core cast put through extensive workshops, in which they shared experiences of friendship, their cultures, social media, and school life to make sure the film is as authentic as possible, Rocks is a true collaborative effort, as Gavron selflessly takes a step back to allow her girls the time and the space to be seen. The result is a story packed with warmth and generosity to its characters, all without losing sight of the gravity of the subject matter.

Low key but beautiful, the film’s visual style takes this intimacy to another level while offering one of the most achingly authentic on-screen portraits of London you’re ever likely to see. With the bustling, ramshackle, character-laced streets of East London as her backdrop, the city becomes its own character, harsh and unforgiving but stacked with promise and opportunity.

Within this, Rocks and her friend group are a true slice of 21st century London. With a loose, energetic chemistry, the friends, who cover an impressive ethnographic cross-section of your average inner city comprehensive, feel utterly genuine as they banter, squabble, and enjoy one another’s company as only teenage girls can.

Covering Nigerian, Somali, Polish, Bangladeshi, English, and Congolese-Ghanaian, the ethnically diverse core group are depicted as they should be, free of judgement and cliché and allowed to be themselves, and despite the obvious inexperience of the cast, they all deliver. Raw, natural, and effortlessly engaging, the young ensemble really set the tone and give Bukky Bakray the platform to shine.

And it’s with young Bukky that Rocks really comes alive. Plucked straight from the classroom without an acting credit to her name, Bukky - a born and bred East Londoner - takes to her potentially tricky role with gleeful abandon as she produces a performance of nuance and power way beyond her years.

With such heavy-hitting subject matter to cover, many young actors would struggle under the pressure, yet Bukky clearly revels in it as she takes everything in her stride. As the backbone of the story, her relationship with her brother, Emmanuel, is particularly poignant, as she must act as both surrogate mother and exhausted-but-loving sister, while trying desperately to keep her shit together at all costs.

Deeply personal yet utterly universal, Rocks takes in a wide range of issues, including race, class, abandonment, mental health, the loss of innocence, friendship, and the importance of finding love in those around you. While that sounds like an awful lot to squeeze into a low budget, 90-minute indie film, Rocks, like its protagonist, never gives up as it embraces the challenge.

Offering an insight into the inner mechanisms of life as a young person in 21st century London, Rocks subtly highlights their experiences and how they differ depending on one’s socio-economic situation. Balancing the average life of a contemporary teenage Brit with the extraordinary and painful circumstances of Rocks’ home life, the film is a thoroughly satisfying and astonishingly rounded viewing experience.

With authenticity and honesty to spare, Rocks is a superbly crafted piece of modern social drama that rejects cliché to offer an empathetic look at its youthful subjects. Bolstered by the raw talents of its breakout star, Bukky Bakray, Rocks is a heart-breaking and heart-warming portrait of teenage resilience and a beautifully composed ode to mates, love, loss, and London.

Rocks is out in selected UK cinemas and available to stream on Netflix now.