Samantha has left a youth detention centre and is trying to go straight by getting her own flat and forging a career as a model. But even though she’s doing well, she still feels unfulfilled and finds life on the outside very hard indeed.

Hard Knocks is such an interesting slice of life. It was made at a time when youth culture was at it’s most clearly defined and theres a real punk/post-punk/new wave flavour to the film. There’s also a great soundtrack too.

It reminds me of the curios that would be shown on late-night television in the UK especially ITV and Channel 4 who would buy in all manner of eclectic fare.

Theres plenty of grit to proceedings too. The sleaziness of the modelling world, the dead-end jobs that Samantha takes when she’s not modelling, the crimes she undertakes to make ends meet and the police interrogations that are so brutal that they reminded me of The Sweeney. These are un-PC times and the police are shown at their worst.

For the Prisoner fans- Georgy Baxter, Doug Parker, Myra Desmond, George Lucas and Kathleen Leach. If you know, you know 🙂

4 out of 5 stars