Yes Man – Raw, Hard Hitting Drama
Director: Daniel Glenn-Barbour
Writer: Daniel Glenn-Barbour (Screenplay)
Starring: Kieton Saunders-Browne, Keon Martial-Phillip, Kirk Smith, Zara Hunter, Nash Hernandez, Elixabeth Cristo, Adrian Gatta Grant
Plot: Darrell, an intern at a corporate company does not buy into the white-collar culture of ‘going along to get along’. He chooses to surround himself amongst a few bad apples. Darrell finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. The advice given to him by Ben, a violent group leader, keeps him narrow minded to his environment until his friend Ryan, an intelligent hustler with dreams of opening a restaurant, shows Darrell to think about what he wants for his future.
Runtime: 1 Hour 24 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Yes Man starts as we meet Darrell (Saunders-Browne) an intern in the corporate world, where he finds himself dealing with discrimination from higher ups, leading to him quitting, turning to his friends Ben (Smith) and Ryan (Martial-Phillip), who have their own business on the streets.
As Darrell starts working the streets, he will find himself fearing for his life, questioning what the future holds for him, wanting more from his life.
Thoughts on Yes Man
Characters & Performances – Darrell is a young black man in London, fresh out of prison, trying to make it work in a corporate world, where he ends up dealing with discrimination from the bosses. Darrell can’t accept this, turning to his friends Ryan and Ben for help, as they introduce him to a criminal underworld, one which will see him face the same path, which left him in trouble before, only he doesn’t want to make the same mistakes again. Ben is one of the friends Darrell turns to, he is looking to move up in the drug dealing world, being ruthless towards anyone who is helping him, taking on a different approach to what Ryan does. Ryan is a hustler in the group, he has a different approach, one that will look to use the approach to earn respect, setting his own targets to get out of the world, showing Darrell another direction to why they are involved in this. We do meet the other members of the gang, rival gangs and other people that judge Darrell in life.
Kieton Saunders-Browne in the leading role is great, bringing to life the conflicted character that is being stepped on in life, showing the man that is torn between the two worlds or wanting more and not thinking he is good enough for more. Keon Martial-Phillip and Kirk Smith both bring the two different sides to the gang to life, showing Darrell the options in the world.
Story – The story here follows a young black man trying to rebuild his life after going to prison, only finding himself getting caught up in the middle of the world he wanted to walk away from as his only option to get the respect he should have, while being guided by three people in life. Yes Man will show how difficult life can be for somebody who gets caught up in the system where they could become a statistic, while the desire for a clean break comes through, without reaching the levels they want. Yes Man will show the hopeless direction people in this world might face, where the promise of success for little work outweighs the reality of an honest job, where they will always be looked down on.
Themes – Yes Man is a drama based in the hard-hitting gang land streets in London, where the people believe this is all they will ever have, fighting over small parts of it for an illegal operation, as they are forced to do anything to make sure they can make it in life. The location becomes a character, because it shows the borders that Darrell believes he is trapped between, despite others around him, encouraging to break out.
Yes Man will be available on Digital Download from 13th June.
Final Thoughts – Yes Man is hard-hitting reflection of the street world people find themselves trapped in.