Once Banned from Theaters, ‘Blue Story’ is Worth Your Attention

Theaters are closed, movies delayed, and access to press screenings are limited to streaming. There’s no better time to highlight smaller films — amazing movies without the big-studio marketing budget that makes it harder for you to find. Discover a new film festival darling and support new, emerging, and independent filmmakers. Sheltering in place doesn’t need to stop you from your weekend evening escape to the movies. Follow the flurry of upcoming reviews on Twitter, or find all my reviews for movies you can stream from right at home. In its UK debut, Paramount’s Blue Story was born into the type of commotion US moviegoers recall in the wake of Aurora, Colorado and the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises in 2012. While thankfully not a mass shooting — that, unfortunately, is uniquely American in its frequency — the Rapman written-and-directed film about rival London gangs saw over 20 incidences of violence on its release day including those with knives and machetes. The result was its banning in many London theaters. On the other side of the pond, US audiences who were largely unaware of the film have access to its digital release, now available, to see the London-based drama about two unlikely friends, Timmy and Marco, from opposite ends of warring gangs in southeast London.

Timmy (Stephen Odubola) and Marco (Michael Ward) meet as children and form an instant bond; their childhood shenanigans ranging from covering each others schoolwork to backing each other in fistfigh…