Reggie Yates’s pirate crew tale is a proper little treasure

79 mins, cert 15 ★★★★✩

THE TITLE of this sweet film is (deliberately) misleading. No swashing takes place, it’s a buckler-free zone and the only treasures plundered are three dazzling Moschino suits.

So our “pirates” are three young Londoners. Kidda and T (Reda Elazouar and Jordan Peters) use pirate radio to promote their garage group, Ice Cold Crew, below. It’s New Year’s Eve 1999, and these lads reunite with their earnest pal Cappo (Elliot Edusah), now at uni and guiltily conscious he’s outgrown his role as manager of the ICC.

The plot couldn’t be simpler. T is desperate to get tickets to a “banging” do in Vauxhall, to impress cute local girl Sophie (Kassius Nelson). Guess what? That plan goes a bit wiggly.

Actor, broadcaster and DJ Reggie Yates was born in Islington and sets his directing debut close to home. Anger’s not on the menu. Pirates borrows from La Haine but, larky and unassuming, owes just as much to Superbad and even The Night Before. You don’t need to be young, or cash-strapped, to root for these chancers. Once the first panto-ish 10 minutes are over, hanging with this crew is plain sailing.

In cinemas