Sket (4 Stars)

This is another film that I found in the bargain bin of Saturn's Blu-ray department. I admit that I'm attracted by the covers more than anything else, but if a film costs less than three Euros I can throw it in the trash if I don't like it. That's less than the nine Euros I wasted going to see "Justice League" in the cinema. I can tell you now that "Sket" won't be thrown into my trash.

Kayla and Tanya are two sisters who move from Newcastle to London after the death of their mother. The actresses were aged 16 and 22 when they made the film, so I'm guessing that's the approximate ages of the characters in the film. The age difference makes Trey the mother figure in the new family relationship.

Kayla makes contact with a girl gang on a bus. Two young men assault Kayla, blocking her way and touching her when she wants to get off the bus. One of the gang members sees this and defends her. Kayla is fascinated by the sight of powerful girls who can beat up men. She wants to join the gang, but they reject her because she's too young and too weak. They have standards.

A few days later Tanya sees a drug dealer arguing with his pregnant girlfriend. She tells him to stop, so he turns his anger on her and seriously injures her. Tanya dies in hospital, but before she dies she tells Kayla the name of the man that she overheard in the argument. Kayla wants revenge. She knows she can't do it herself, so she goes back to the girl gang and begs them to help her.

"Sket" is at the same time exciting and horrifying, but it's also morbidly fascinating. It shows an urban subculture which people prefer to deny. The girls have banded together as a protection against male violence. As their leader Daze tells Kayla, any woman who isn't strong will be raped. That's a sad truth, especially in the poor areas of London.

I'd like to make a disclaimer about the screenshot I've posted above. I disapprove of smoking. I find women who smoke ugly. On a few rare occasions in my life I've kissed smokers, so I can verify that women who smoke taste bad as well. Smoking is an anti-social habit. If someone takes pills or drinks alcohol it's his own business and doesn't affect anyone else, but smoking is different. Smokers force non-smokers to participate in their vice. Most western countries have now banned smoking in restaurants and workplaces, but that isn't enough. When I'm at a bus stop smokers stand next to me, forcing me to move away. In the street smokers walk past me and blow smoke in my face. Smokers are dirty people. Anywhere you walk you see hundreds of cigarette butts on the floor. As soon as the streets are cleaned smokers throw more butts on the floor. Smokers have no respect for their fellow people. They think they're in the right and everyone else is wrong.

So look at the photo above. Five girls. Three are ugly, two are beautiful.

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