First-time director and screenwriter Jamie Jones sets his film’s action in London, at a time of rising social tensions and frustrations. The location of Obey reflects Leon’s emotional state quite well: he’s torn between the current state of his life and a chance to start something entirely new. Leon is a black 19-year-old living on the wrong side of the tracks in east London with his alcoholic mother. With no real prospects, he blows off steam at a boxing gym; he’s in a rut—every day is exactly the same. Then he meets Twiggy, a beautiful and rebellious girl from a totally different world, who might represent a way out. It suddenly dawns on Leon that there’s more to life than his familiar, grim reality. Jones’s film is an initiation story that plays out on many different levels. Brilliantly acted and full of conflicting emotions—passion, anger, vulnerability, frustration—it’s reminiscent of the classic Matthieu Kassovitz film La Haine.