Rob Munday

Set almost entirely within the suffocating confines of a London barber shop, Koby Adom’s Film London short Haircut paints a gritty depiction of the Capital’s streets as its central protagonist searches for a little redemption from a checkered past. A tense thriller based on a similar incident director Adom experienced at his local barber’s, as this narrative unravels and truths are revealed, its viewer are left questioning who the real “villian” of the story is.

Creating Haircut with the intention of telling a human story set in the area he grew up (and still lives), Adom explains he hopes that his audience will “put on a pair of our shoes” and experience life on his streets. Taking a narrative first approach with his filmmaking, the director stresses that “story is king” in his production and key to the film’s success was working with his DoP on set to create shots that really enhanced his story.

A tale of drugs, guns and questionable characters, Haircut isn’t exactly reinventing the London narrative and I’m sure detractors of the piece will point to the cliches in its plot as one of its weaknesses. However, Adom’s story feels impossible not to get lost in, his characters are so believable and the situation so real, the tension of the piece is palpable. You almost want to reach through the screen and pass the characters something to mop their sweaty brows. This authenticity in filmmaking is much desired and Adom really seems to have it nailed.

Named as one of ScreenDaily’s ‘Stars of Tomorrow 2018’, Koby is now working on his debut feature SE28 and also currently directing 3 episodes of BBC1 drama Noughts and Crosses. A filmmaker we’ve had an eye on for sometime, it certainly looks like there’s a bright future ahead for the talented filmmaker.