Straddling the intersection of drug dealing and the music industry, “Yardie,” the big-screen directing debut of the actor Idris Elba, struggles to carve a path between warring gangs and reggae beats. Leaping from 1970s Jamaica to 1980s London, the story follows D (Aml Ameen), a drug courier and aspiring music artist who arrives in Hackney with a package for Rico (the reliable Stephen Graham, whose queasily hilarious performance of cultural appropriation is mitigated by his Jamaican heritage). But D, in a pointlessly stupid move that endangers his newly rediscovered childhood sweetheart (an excellent Shantol Jackson) and their young daughter, decides to give his package to the Turks instead.

Source: New York Times March 14, 2019 10:52 UTC