The Hard Stop review – beyond the 2011 riots

The killing of Mark Duggan in 2011 sparked riots in Tottenham, which in turn triggered an unprecedented wave of civil unrest around Britain. This documentary is an attempt to look beneath the inflammatory headlines and at the context for the explosion of grassroots anger. Film-maker George Amponsah returns to the neighbourhood where Duggan grew up, following two of his closest friends as they try to make sense of Duggan’s death and their own embattled lives. The film is not always as focused as it could be, but it gives a voice to a community that is routinely denied one and a platform to Duggan’s relatives, who claim that justice has yet to be done.