Fifteen-year-old Liam counts down the days until his mother Jean’s release from prison, dreaming of finally getting her away from her abusive boyfriend and the poverty-stricken Scottish town of Greenock, where the two of them could start over in a caravan by the sea. To fund that dream, Liam turns to selling stolen cigarettes and, increasingly, drugs—dragging his best friend Pinball and his older sister Chantelle into an escalating scheme that quickly outgrows his control.
As Liam climbs higher into the local drug trade, chasing enough money to build the fresh start he’s promised himself and his mother, he’s forced deeper into a world of violence and loyalty tests that put everyone he loves at risk—including the very future he’s fighting so hard to build for them. Note: filmed with a non-professional local cast, Sweet Sixteen made a breakout star of Martin Compston, then a teenage footballer with no prior acting experience, who went on to win a Scottish BAFTA for the role before later becoming known internationally for Line of Duty.
Ken Loach’s Sweet Sixteen is a raw coming-of-age crime drama shot in the working-class dialect of Inverclyde, so distinctive that the film was often released with subtitles even in English-speaking markets. Written by Loach’s longtime collaborator Paul Laverty, it’s a tender yet unsentimental portrait of a boy trying to outrun the poverty and dysfunction that shaped him, only to find there’s no clean way out.
Director: Ken Loach Stars: Martin Compston, William Ruane, Annmarie Fulton, Michelle Abercromby, Michelle Coulter
