A British teenager comes home one afternoon to find her mother gone, and Rocks stays with her through the days that follow as she tries to keep herself and her little brother afloat without anyone noticing.
What is Rocks about?
Nothing in the early scenes points to a crisis. There is school, there is a tight circle of friends, there is a younger brother to feed and tease and walk to class. Then the mother disappears from the flat, and the girl everyone calls Rocks decides she will manage on her own rather than let adults take over. The film becomes a story of improvisation: where to sleep when the flat is no longer safe, what to tell teachers who ask questions, how long a friendship can hold when one side is hiding something this heavy. Sarah Gavron keeps the camera close to the girls and lets their talk overlap the way real friends' talk does, so the drama grows out of small choices rather than big set pieces. Through all of it the brother is there, needing lunch, needing a bed, needing his sister to keep pretending that everything is under control.
About the cast
Bukky Bakray carries the film in the title role, surrounded by a young ensemble that includes Kosar Ali, D'angelou Osei Kissiedu, Shaneigha-Monik Greyson, Ruby Stokes, Tawheda Begum, Afi Okaidja and Anastasia Dymitrow. The performances have a loose, unguarded quality, and the chemistry among the group of friends is as central to the film as the family story at its heart.
Context & significance
Rocks is a 2020 drama from the United Kingdom, directed by Sarah Gavron and running about ninety-three minutes. It sits in a British tradition of social realism that looks at working-class and immigrant life through the eyes of young people, with the state and its institutions hovering at the edge of the frame rather than driving the plot. Gavron's approach is to trust her teenage cast and let the texture of their daily lives, from the classroom to the kitchen, do the work that exposition might do elsewhere. The film was warmly received on release and is often mentioned among the strongest British coming-of-age films of its year.
Watching Rocks on Ktime
Rocks is available on K-Time with a Persian dub and Persian subtitles, so you can watch it in Farsi or keep the original English dialogue with Farsi text. Log in with your K-Time account to start playing. The interface is in Persian throughout, and the film is well suited to a quiet evening at home on any screen you have.