''Strangeways Here We Come'' is an English

comedy drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple co ...

, written and directed by Chris Green, in which a group of residents in a

council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

decide to defeat a cruel

loan shark A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...

that has been making their lives miserable. It was filmed in

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

. The name is taken from

the Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...

’ album of the same name.

Cast

Elaine Cassidy Elaine Cassidy (born 31 December 1979) is an Irish actress. She is best known for playing DC Dinah Kowalska in ''No Offence'', Abby Mills in the American television series ''Harper's Island'' for CBS, Felicia in '' Felicia's Journey'', Runt in ...

as Steph * James Cooney as Ollie * Oliver Coopersmith as Aaron * Chanel Cresswell as Becki *

Perry Fitzpatrick Perry Fitzpatrick is an English actor. He is known for his roles as DS Chris Lomax in the BBC series '' Line of Duty'', Flip in '' This Is England '86'' and ''This Is England '90'', and Hot & Cold in '' Drifters''. Early life Fitzpatrick atte ...

as Marvin * James Foster as Brian * Saffron Hocking as Sian *

Michelle Keegan Michelle Elizabeth Keegan (born 3 June 1987) is an English actress, known for her roles as Tina McIntyre in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' and Sergeant Georgie Lane in the BBC drama series '' Our Girl''. Keegan also starred as Tra ...

as Demi *

Stephen Lord Stephen Lord (born 1 October 1971) is an English actor, known for playing Jase Dyer in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' from 2007 to 2008 and Dominic Meak in the Channel 4 comedy drama series, '' Shameless'', between 2012 and 2013. In 2021 ...

as Nolan * Mark Sheals as Max *

Lauren Socha Lauren Marie Socha (born 9 June 1990) is an English actress. She rose to prominence during her role as Kelly Bailey in the E4 comedy-drama television series ''Misfits'', for which she won a BAFTA TV Award in the Best Supporting Actress categor ...

as Shelley * Ania Sowinski as Jean *

Nina Wadia Nina Wadia (born 18 December 1968) is a British actress and comedian. She is known for portraying Zainab Masood in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', Aunty Noor in Citizen Khan Mrs Hussein in the BBC comedy ''Still Open All Hours'', and for st ...

as Lucy * Ste Johnston as Gary

Background

The film's writer and director, Chris Green, said: “This was made by someone who lived there. Growing up on Spike Island we saw a lot of violence. I can honestly say that 90 per cent of what you see in that film is true - its stuff I’ve seen, stuff I’ve experienced or know about. Apart from the murder, obviously."

Reception

Upon its release in 2018, ''Strangeways Here We Come'' garnered overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' rated the film zero stars, and Mike McCahill, reviewing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', rated the film 1/5 stars, commenting that critics would be "torn between highlighting those actors who make a few scenes tolerable or granting them the anonymity they surely longed for as they fled the cast-and-crew screening with heads under blankets." Benjamin Poole, for themoviewaffler.com, wrote "Vile stereotypes of people at the tough end of the social scale, disdainful representations seemingly designed to comfort and entertain those fortunate enough to never have to go near social housing." In 2022, the film saw increased popularity on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

, appearing on the streaming site's "Most Watched" list. Green told ''

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 201 ...

'': "I'm glad for everyone involved, and I’m proud to have come from Salford and being able to turn my experiences into entertainment. I’m not a multi-millionaire but I am doing the job that I love, writing for film and TV and telling the stories that inspire me."

Commercial reception

''Strangeways Here We Come'' grossed $3,473 worldwide.

External links

Official website
*

References

{{Reflist 2018 independent films 2018 comedy-drama films British comedy-drama films Films set in England Films shot in Lancashire Films shot in Greater Manchester 2010s English-language films 2010s British films