Director: Sam de Jong
MPAA Rating: NR
Run Time: 78 min.
It’s no secret that I have a soft spot for coming-of-age stories, so Dutch director Sam de Jong’s feature debut Prince had piqued my interest from the start, but what I didn’t realize was just how much I would be taken with this overly stylized story about a young teen trying to make a name for himself on his block.
Taking a cue from Nicolas Winding Refn, Prince plays out like a children’s version of Drive, employing one visual feast after another, soaking the scenery in neon with an ever-present thumping electronic score. It’s easily the highlight of this gorgeous film, but behind the strong visuals lays an almost equally enthralling narrative about growing up, becoming a man and taking responsibility for ones actions.
The film stars Oussama Addi as Oussama, a poor kid spending his adolescence pining over the beautiful neighborhood girl and hanging out on the playground with his friends eating endless amounts of sunflower seeds. Oussama is determined to make a name for himself, become successful, get the girl and become the most popular kid on the block.
Unfortunately, the older guys (with their sweet fanny packs around their necks) bully him; he has no money to buy nice clothes, and he’s constantly being ridiculed because of his homeless junkie of a father. Seemingly at the end of his rope, Oussama decides to throw caution to the wind and start working for an insane local drug dealer, named Kalpa, whom everyone fears.
Addi is a standout in the film and does a fantastic job for such a young actor, successfully portraying his character as a kid who talks a big game but is in reality a good person who cares for his family and friends despite sometimes alienating himself from them. Like most kids his age, he finds himself under a mountain of stress and daily moral quandaries that continue to test his character.
One of the few issues I had with this film is that there’s so much happening in the plot that certain aspects of it feel less fleshed out than they should be. Oussama is dealing with his relationships with his friends, his mother and sister, the girl he likes, the bullies, his employer and his deadbeat father, not to mention the bevy of conflicts resulting from all of these various elements. This is a minor quibble, but some things felt a bit rushed while others dragged, like scenes showing his relationship with his father.
From the fantastic opening credits, it’s evident that Prince is going to be something special, and for me, it was one of the most invigorating films I’ve had the privilege of seeing this year. It certainly put director Sam de Jong and Oussama Addi on my radar, eagerly awaiting their next projects.
