Off-Licence

Directed by Danny Baalbaki

Over the course of one night in a North London corner shop, a troubled shopkeeper, Youssef, endures discrimination and pressure from his uncle, Samir, to stop smoking weed and focus on running their business. Mistaken for the perpetrator of a petty robbery, Youssef is detained and issued a warning - an opportunity his grandstanding uncle revels in. As he withstands Samir’s moral lectures, Youssef discovers that his uncle is using the shop to store drugs for a local gang, shattering his sense of reality. At the same time, his close friend Ciara challenges Youssef’s burning skepticism, which he deflects with anecdotes about rude customers. The night culminates in a tense confrontation with gang members seeking retribution against Samir - the true nature of which remains forever concealed by the CCTV dead zones.