In a report published in September 2026, the Chief Inspector of Prisons found that 39% of children surveyed in custody felt unsafe during their detention; some young offenders reported that such feelings were simply an inevitable part of incarceration. Animol, the story of 15-year-old Troy (Tut Nyuot) as he enters the carceral system, zooms in to an uncomfortable degree on the plight of young boys living through a traumatic life event provided and facilitated courtesy of His Majesty’s Prison Service.
Troy is put through the wringer, going through pretty much every imaginable experience for a young offender: drug smuggling, gang initiation, solitary confinement and violence from other inmates. There are also further tribulations that beset Troy as a queer person in an inescapably homophobic environment (the number of male prisoners who identify as gay or bisexual sits at a mere 6%). Screenwriter Nick Love and director Ashley Walters’ decision to turn an ostensibly rote prison gang movie into a gay romance might seem cynically awards-geared to urbane critics and festival panelists, but bridging these two genres can bring taboo topics to new audiences (indeed, the three spectators behind me, who began laughing during some of the more intense homophobic displays before leaving a good two thirds of the way through, are living provincial proof that there is a need for this sort of material).
First and foremost in bringing it to life is the exceptional cast, led by extraordinary talent Tut Nyuot in his first leading role, who is the silent portrait of Saint Sebastian, endlessly persecuted but unable to voice his pain. It is through Nyuot that we feel the anxiety, terror, adrenaline and suffocation that typifies prison life for young offenders. The script is restrained in its dialogue, giving more to the brasher characters who provide the conflict, but still entrusting much of the narrative heft to atmosphere and action. Music is minimal; cinematography is effective but unobtrusive (save for an admirable but misfired nightmare slash fever dream sequence featuring stylised movement and red lens filters). In creating this purgatory, less truly is more.
There is no weak link in this cast. Vladyslav Baliuk is charming as the irrepressible Krystian; Sekou Diaby is perversely magnetic as ringleader Dion; Ryan Dean terrifies as the psychopathic Mason; and the cast is rounded out by Walters’ Adolescence co-star, the ever reliable Stephen Graham, who plays a slightly underdeveloped welfare officer serving us with something of a deus ex carcera. Walters, drawing throughout the film on his own experience of incarceration as a young man, is trying to offer something hopeful, a possibility of redemption. We are shown all the systems, both social and political, which trap young men, followed finally by an alternative. Unfortunately the form in which it is presented somewhat stretches credulity and runs the risk of feeling tacked on.
Animol, as an experience, is a held breath, one which we cannot exhale until we have reached the finish line. It presents incarceration as a truly traumatic experience in the clinical sense of the word, both mentally and physically, with a visible toll on the individual which cannot necessarily be shaken off upon release. This tension is incredibly effective at drawing us into the stakes of the story, but it is also unrelenting and the action can be, even amidst its more transgressive elements, somewhat formulaic. Ashley Walters has shown he has the makings of a great filmmaker. Perhaps in collaboration with a more ambitious screenwriter he could turn out something truly remarkable.
Animol is in UK cinemas now.
