Simran Hans 

Pirates review – Reggie Yates romp set on New Year’s Eve 1999

Three friends head for a garage rave to see in the millennium in Yates’s irrepressible directorial debut
  
  

Reda Elazouar, Jordan Peters and Elliot Edusah in Pirates.
Reda Elazouar, Jordan Peters and Elliot Edusah in Pirates. Photograph: -

It’s New Year’s Eve 1999 and three best friends are driving around north London in a little yellow Peugeot 205 they’ve christened the “Custard Cream”. Think Superbad, but sweeter, as Cappo (Elliot Edusah), Kidda (a scene-stealing Reda Elazouar) and Two Tonne (Jordan Peters) pursue tickets for a sold-out garage rave on the brink of a new millennium. If all goes to plan, Two Tonne will kiss his crush, Sophie (Kassius Nelson), at the stroke of midnight.

It’s a bouncy, grin-inducing romp through Caribbean takeaways, designer boutiques stacked with Moschino streetwear and one ill-advised trip south of the river. Sunglasses are worn inside; a member of So Solid Crew is set on fire. The film is as irrepressibly likable as its writer-director, the broadcaster and actor Reggie Yates. The period references to toy Tamagotchis, plum-coloured church suits and garage bangers such as Roy Davis Jr’s Gabriel feel ripped directly from his own youth.

Watch a trailer for Pirates.
 

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