I’ll be very honest, when I initially heard that the handsome, successful, and presumably middle-class English actor, Harris Dickinson, was writing and directing a film with a homeless protagonist, I rolled my eyes. After the billionaire heiress’ film about poverty, and Emerald Fennell’s trivialization of class in Saltburn, I thought we were done with privileged people cosplaying the lower class. However, it only takes around 10 minutes into the actor’s directorial debut, Urchin, to realize that Dickinson isn’t doing some slum tourism with his first film.
He’s not trying to dismantle the system, glamorize poverty, or offer his own perspective on how people end up in such dire positions. It’s a tale of how one can be so desperate to get their life in order despite being so permeable to the habits that keep pulling them back. Frank Dillane gives a masterful performance as Mike, a man who is homeless and an addict in London, realizing that in order to get his life on track, he needs to stop letting the entire world around him slide off his back. It’s a surprisingly understated and sophisticated debut from Dickinson, announcing himself as a Mike Leigh-type capturer of the extraordinary mundane.
Harris Dickinson’s First Movie Follows a Man Trying to Restart His Life

Image Via Devisio Pictures

Mike is in his late 20s and has been sleeping rough on the streets of London for years. Years of being on his own have made him aloof, distant, but still rather kind as he chats with others at food shelters and mildly asks for spare change. But when an opportunity comes for a quick buck, Mike assaults and robs a man trying to help him, sending him to jail for several months. When he gets out, that’s when the story really begins, as it sends Mike on a path of finally looking inward and dissecting why he’s like the way that he is. He gets accommodation at a hostel, goes to counseling, and gets a job as a chef in a rundown hotel. After years of being able to avoid taking responsibility for his actions and reckoning with his place in the world, Mike is made to take ownership of his actions. The conviction in his voice when he blames others for his problems starts to waver, and he forges meaningful friendships, where one isn’t always trying to steal from the other. For the first time in his life, Mike can’t look to anyone else to point the finger at for the choices he makes.
It’s certainly generous to Dicksinon to compare him to a cinematic legend like Mike Leigh based on just one film, but Urchin does have the same slow, British feel with everyday comedy that Leigh has perfected. We first meet Mike trying to sleep on a busy road, his slumber rudely broken by a woman’s professing of Christ’s love. When Mike gets in a fight with Nathan (Dickinson) over a stolen wallet, their scuffle is framed not too dissimilar from the pathetic clawing between Colin Firth and Hugh Grant in Bridget Jones’ Diary. Dickinson isn’t trying to make life on the streets edgy, overly gritty, or glamorized. It’s bleak, sometimes joyous, but mostly mundane. But when Mike starts to sort his life out, the little things we all take for granted are blown up to appear larger than life. The film’s best sequence is just Dickinson slowly zooming in on Mike and his two new work friends singing karaoke to Atomic Kittens’ “Whole Again.”

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Dancing in a car park, leaning on a wall, eating chips, and smoking a cigarette out of a window are all shown to be transcendent experiences for Mike. Unlike another Un Certain Regard debut from an actor (sorry K-Stew, I still love you), Dickinson isn’t trying to pack in as much technique and style as possible to prove to the world what he can do. Like so many British directors before him, kitchen sink realism combined with lighthearted humor and emotional honesty is what’s important here, and it’s astounding how effectively Dickinson captures it all in his first film. And while the film gets to some harsh truths and shows a bleaker side to London, Dickinson finds room for levity and humor. Whether Mike is in on the joke or not, Urchin doesn’t try to show the world in just one shade.
‘Urchin’ Doesn’t Try to Make Grand Statements About Poverty

Imagw Via Cannes Film Festival

When it comes to the film’s themes of poverty and class, Dickinson smartly knows where to draw the line in his script. He’s not ignoring the very pressing issue of poverty and the housing crisis in the UK, but he’s more so using Mike as a microcosm to discuss them. When we see Mike completely change persona from a dismissive but overall pleasant man to violently attacking a guy for a watch, it’s a reminder of how Mike has had to survive for all these years. But Dickinson doesn’t justify his character’s actions either. Mike’s life after prison is sent on a downward spiral after having a meeting with his victim to hear how it impacted him. Mike tries to leave as soon as possible and hide any feelings towards what he’s just heard. But it’s clear that Mike can no longer shake off the world around him, and he has to participate to move forward. We’re never told how Mike got to his position, we’re just asked to watch him as he tries, fails, and tries again to make something of himself. It’s a lot more earnest and heartfelt than I anticipated, and never falls into the “poverty porn” territory of reveling in people’s misery for entertainment.
With a fairly light plot and such a focus on character, casting Mike was one of the production’s most important choices. Frank Dillane is the heart and soul of this story, allowing every aspect of Mike’s personality to come through when the time is right. He’s aloof without ever feeling stiff, illustrating how someone can survive a life that asks them to care about very little but finding more cash. It’s a multi-faceted performance that makes the audience invest in Mike’s journey and root for him, while also wanting to hit him over the head when he retreats back to his old ways. Dillane, like his director, never feels like he’s cosplaying what the average person thinks a homeless person should act or look like, simply portraying a man who has gotten lost in the shuffle of the world. His scenes with Megan Northam, who plays his co-worker and love interest, are particularly powerful, kissing and fighting like they’ve known each other for years despite meeting just a week ago. But it’s in the meeting with the victim when Mike is forced to fully reckon with his actions that Dillane’s talents shine the brightest, capturing an entire life of pain, regret, and denial coming to the surface while stuck in a wooden chair in a claustrophobic office.
Urchin is an impressive first film from writer-director Harris Dickinson that sets him on a path to be among the ranks of the best of British storytellers. With a phenomenal performance from Frank Dillane and a thoughtful, open approach to those who lose their way in life, Urchin is a worthy contribution to the cinematic portfolio of British realism.

Urchin

Harris Dickinson’s directorial debut is a tribute to those who don’t give up on turning their life arouns.

Release Date

May 17, 2025

Runtime

99 minutes

Director

Harris Dickinson

Writers

Harris Dickinson

Pros & Cons

Frank Dillane gives a compelling and multi-facted performance.
Harris Dickinson’s restrained direction that focuses on characters is reminiscent of Mike Leigh’s style.
Dickinson doesn’t try to comment on social issues, instead using Mike as an avenue for conversation.