Harris Dickinson already conquered 2024 with his breakout turn in “Babygirl” alongside Nicole Kidman. Then he was cast as a Beatle, set to portray John Lennon in Sam Mendes’ four-part biopic. Now, the “Scrapper,” “Murder at the End of the World,” and “Triangle of Sadness” alum is proving to fans and critics alike that his multi-hyphenate career is only getting started — and that he really might be the next voice of indie filmmaking both in front of and behind the camera.
Dickinson makes his directorial debut with quirky drama “Urchin,” which will premiere at Cannes out of competition. Frank Dillane stars as Mike, a struggling addict who shifts in and out of homelessness based on the ebbs and flows of his drug dependency. The official logline reads: “Mike is a rough sleeper in London, trapped in a cycle of self-destruction as he attempts to turn his life around. Raw and absurd, the film is a story about the strange patterns that keep pulling us back.” Megan Northam also stars.
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Dickinson wrote the original film after being inspired by his own experiences volunteering with his local Walthamstow-based nonprofit, Project Parker, to combat homelessness. Dickinson also established the Hackney division of charity Under One Sky for unhoused people.
“I’ve had people close to me struggle with cyclical behavior, so about five years ago I started working in my local community, supporting people dealing with homelessness and addiction,” Dickinson told IndieWire. “I got involved in volunteer-led outreach projects and met individuals who, despite trying, had slipped through the cracks. That experience, my proximity to it, made me want to tell a story with empathy, nuance, and humility — something that captured the complexity of someone battling themselves, and offered a more human, rounded perspective.”
He added in a press statement that he wanted to set “Urchin” in his hometown to capture the personal tie to a global issue. “I wanted to tell a story about a young man in my area. Stories about addiction, homelessness, and trauma can often feel heavy-handed, so I wanted to weave in comedy too — because with great tragedy often comes humor and levity,” Dickinson said. “I worked on it for a long time, scrutinizing it with advisors from probation services, mental health support, and prison reform. I wanted to fully understand this world to find the story within it. I didn’t want it to just be about drugs because there’s a narrative that every addict is destructive, or every homeless person is addicted to drugs. That’s simply not the case. Yes, there is a high rate of drug use in that community, but often as a coping mechanism. I wanted to highlight that someone can revert to a darker version of themselves, whether that’s through alcohol, drugs, or other means.”
Dickinson cited the influence of “incredibly political filmmakers” such as Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, and Shane Meadows on his feature directorial debut. “Working class cinema has the tendency to be bleak at times, and that’s also a reflection of the stories out in the world that need to be told,” he said. “My goal was to aim for something in the middle, combining elements of heightened cinema with the more grounded and investigated approach. That way, I think people can find a way into these themes whilst also going on a journey with a character, allowing them to laugh and fall with them too.”
Dickinson’s script was developed with the support of BBC Film, with BFI and Tricky Knot later producing. Archie Pearch and Scott O’Donnell are producers on the feature, as well. Josée Deshaies is the director of photography on the feature.
Check out the first clip of “Urchin,” an IndieWire exclusive, below. “Urchin” premieres Saturday, May 17 at Cannes, with Charades handling international sales.
