‘Near perfect’ gangster film quietly added to BBC after cinema ‘ban’ | Films | Entertainment

An “absolutely beautiful” feature film boasting a near-perfect 93% Rotten Tomatoes score, which previously encountered a ban from certain UK cinemas, has discreetly landed on BBC iPlayer.

The critically acclaimed film, written and directed by Rapman, featuring Stephen Odubola (Boiling Point) and Khali Best (EastEnders), chronicles a gang dispute that shatters the deep-seated friendship amongst a group of south London companions.

Blue Story centres on Timmy, a reserved teenager from Deptford who attends school in Peckham, where he encounters Marco, a charismatic youth from the neighbourhood. Despite hailing from rival postcodes, the pair forge a profound friendship.

Blue Story is now available to stream on BBC iPlayer. One Rotten Tomatoes critic said: “Absolutely beautiful, need a sequel now.”

Another reviewer added: “It’s brutal, raw, and often hard to watch – and hard to understand at times. However, it is striking and will stay with you well after you watch it. The storytelling, with narrative hip hop interludes from Rapman is totally unique and fresh.”, reports Wales Online.

An IMDB reviewer awarded the film ten stars and wrote: “It’s the best film I’ve seen in a long time and I have watched A LOT of films recently.

“The film is accessible, whilst it focuses on gang violence it essentially focuses on a friendship and the relationship between one of those friends and his girlfriend. I found the film very moving. Rapman is unbelievably talented. The acting was amazing, the entire film was engaging from the very start to the very end. I will be telling everyone to watch this movie.”

Blue Story was pulled from Vue cinemas in 2019 following a violent incident in Birmingham. This prompted Rapman, whose real name is Andrew Owubolu, to maintain there was “no connection” between his film and the events that unfolded.

“They were just in a cinema apparently for Frozen [2] but then they pinned it on Blue Story,” he told BBC News.

“And then you start thinking, is there hidden reasons there? Is there a colour thing? You start thinking of all these things, and it was an upsetting time.”

Vue rejected any suggestion that the decision to withdraw Blue Story was racially motivated, with a spokesperson telling the BBC: “No. Categorically not.”

The cinema chain clarified that the film had been pulled following 25 separate incidents reported by staff involving customers watching or attempting to watch the film, “either in screen, leaving the screening, heading into the screening, or purchasing tickets in the foyer”.

The spokesperson confirmed that Vue had implemented several measures, including bolstered security and the cancellation of late-night screenings, but “continued to see significant problems”.

Vue’s founder and chief executive Tim Richards disputed suggestions that those responsible for disturbances at the cinema had been attending screenings of Frozen 2 rather than Blue Story, declaring such reports to be “simply not true”.

He stressed that the company “do not condone any for of violence, abuse of our staff or customers or discrimination in any form”, while highlighting that he has “spent his career championing diversity in the industry”.

Blue Story is streaming now on BBC iPlayer.