SummaryBased on his own life story, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s Farming charts the extraordinary journey of a young fostered Nigerian boy who, struggling to find an identity, falls in with a skinhead gang in 1980’s England.
Directed By:Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Written By:Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Farming
Metascore
Mixed or Average
51
User score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
51
11% Positive
1 Review
1 Review
89% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Oct 24, 2019
80
Told with raw emotion and lurid violence, it transforms elements of his life story into a disturbing, eye-opening coming of age drama.
Oct 24, 2019
60
It has a kernel of raw torment and an unforgiving streak that hints at still-unreconciled wounds, too. It’s not the best film of the year, but it’s definitely one of the most personal.
Oct 24, 2019
60
Farming is a mystery movie in which the author investigates himself — and doesn’t fully share the answers.
Oct 24, 2019
50
Unremittingly, bludgeoningly bleak in its portrayal of his own degradation and humiliation, and displaying only a passing interest in his eventual rehabilitation, the film is remarkable for its lack of self-pity, but it makes the experience of “Farming” a merciless one for the audience too.
Oct 24, 2019
50
Closely based on the director's own troubled youth, Farming is rooted in rich, complex, potentially gripping material. But Akinnuoye-Agbaje slaps this story together with so little subtlety, he ends up seriously diluting its dramatic power.
Oct 24, 2019
40
Enitan’s trauma is revelled in but for what? Few new truths are learned here. A rushed, redemptive montage towards the film’s end is presented as ickily aspirational.
Oct 24, 2019
40
Though the central performance is impressively raw Farming’s uncompromising bleakness drowns out the fascinating story, making it a far tougher watch than it needs to be.
User score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
33% Positive
1 Rating
1 Rating
33% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
33% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Jan 26, 2022
5
A story about a black kid joining a white skinhead gang in the 1980s.
Starting there this film lends itself to all kinds of controversial arguments, and yet the handling of its director, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, fails to give his debut the necessary strength to handle a subject like this. The subject matter is raw and delicate and the director doesn't shy away from being equally raw with his narrative handling, but despite this, there is a void that he cannot fill to make his story more complex and emotional. I applaud the work of his cast, especially his young lead Damson Idris, but this film fell far short of what it could have represented.
Production Company:
- EMG Management
- Groundswell Productions
- Logical Pictures
- Metalwork Pictures
- Montebello Productions
- Sundance Institute
Release Date:Oct 25, 2019
Duration:1 h 41 m
Rating:R
Tagline:Between the 1960's and 1980's in the UK, Thousands of Nigerian Children Were Fostered to White Families. This Practice Was Called Farming.
Awards
Edinburgh International Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
National Film Awards, UK
• 2 Nominations
Braunschweig International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
