Britain's Ashley Walters, who shot to international fame for his role in the hard-hitting drama "Adolescence", has impressed critics with "Animol" that draws on his experience in juvenile detention and is the first feature film he has directed.
After more than a decade of acting, Walters had decided to focus on directing, but the frenzy of interest and award ceremonies surrounding the 2025 release on Netflix of "Adolescence" made that hard. He found himself fighting for time to deal with post-production issues.
"I was literally on planes, anywhere I could get Wi-Fi, looking at edits and cuts," he said about making the prison drama that premiered at the Berlin Film Festival.
"Animol" follows the experience of Troy, played by another British actor Tut Nyuot, as he navigates the daily violence and fraught alliances inside a juvenile detention centre, where a relationship with fellow inmate Krystian (Vladyslav Baliuk) proves a liability.
WALTERS RECOGNISED HIS YOUNGER SELF
Walters first rose to fame as part of the So Solid Crew hip-hop group in the early 2000s before starring in the crime series "Top Boy".
He said he recognised his younger self in Troy, an impressionable Black man drawn to the wrong people.
"I resonated with being vulnerable. I went to prison at maybe like 17, going on 18 years old, and it was hell for me in there. I didn't feel like I was meant to be there or I didn't feel like I was a criminal, like the other boys," he said.
He said such people were wrongly judged.
In reality, he said "these so-called animals that we talk about are babies," just trying to survive in an adult environment.
Walters also wanted to challenge the homophobia he witnessed in prison through the film's central relationship.
"The queer part of the story wasn't my journey, wasn't what happened for me, but I saw it happen in there with a lot of the other inmates," he said.
'GRITTY YOUNG OFFENDERS DRAMA'
The film's screening in the Berlinale festival's Perspectives section was warmly received. The Guardian newspaper called it a "gritty young offenders drama [that] challenges conventional machismo".
Only 22 days were allowed for filming, which Walters said had shaped the end result.
"It was minimal times that we were laughing and joking because the minute someone started laughing, I would be like, 'hey, hey, hey, no time!','" he said, tapping his watch.
"The pressure was always on, for the actors, for me, for everyone. And I think that did us well. You can feel that on the screen."
Nyuot, who was a supporting actor in the 2025 Stephen King adaptation "The Long Walk", said the message of "Animol" echoed that of "Adolescence".
"Young people need help in this day and age," he said, adding he was drawn to the project for the chance to work with Walters.
"He's a legend where I come from. It's surreal, I still don't believe this is actually happening," the 21-year-old British actor told Reuters.
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