Critic Reviews

• David Jenkins, Time Out

  Shabbily filmed and poorly acted, its lone positive is a compellingly awful turn by Alfie (brother of Lily) Allen, whose bumbling, velour-tracksuited date-rapist is the sleaziest thing youâ(TM)ll see this year.

• Anna Smith, Empire Magazine

  Apart from Arinze Kene, the male lead, the stilted performances here, are enough to put anyone off.

• Wendy Ide, Times [UK]

  Freestyle is a string of flashily edited musical montages of East London youth playing basketball, hung on the flimsy framework of a sub-Grange-Hill-quality script.

• Catherine Shoard, Guardian [UK]

  Some of the ball-spinning and torso-wiggling is genuinely impressive, and it's refreshing to see such stuff played out with the backdrop of a recognisable modern Britain.

• Elliott Noble, Sky Movies

  Although the acting is generally closer to Grange Hill than Drury Lane, Kene shows bags of potential.

• Tom Dawson, Total Film

  Admittedly, the characters are schematically drawn, but there's real chemistry between the freestyling leads and, refreshingly given the milieu, there's not a gun in sight.

• Stella Papamichael, Radio Times

  otal fluff and nonsense - though director Kolton Lee does demonstrate visual flair on a low budget - this is also disingenuous and patronising.

• David Edwards, Daily Mirror [UK]

  While the two leads try their best, it's a losing battle with a plot this hackneyed, a script this underdone and some woeful supporting performances.

• Matthew Turner, ViewLondon

  Freestyle has the right intentions but is ultimately a disappointing drama that falls painfully flat thanks to a dismal script, poor direction and wooden performances.

Read all 9 critic reviews