Shabu film review — irrepressible portrait of a natural teen showman

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While new Pixar animation Elemental strains to reach young audiences with life lessons and a tale of the city, Dutch docu-comedy Shabu pulls off the same task with casual poise. The movie is aimed at teenagers, yes, but God knows, that cohort can be even harder to connect with. All the more reason to salute a movie this good at it, a summer romp unapologetically made for and about young people that takes its cue from its real-life star: scrappy, charming, loud and irrepressible.

Growing up in Rotterdam, “Shabu” Abisoina is a Dutch-Surinamese 14-year- old who might almost pass for an adult. Stardom seems assured for this brawny natural showman even before director Shamira Raphaëla fulfils the prophecy. Yet the boy we meet at the start of the film is also clearly just that. In a family meeting after he writes off his grandmother’s car, she glowers with disappointment over Skype. For Shabu there is a gulp of realisation. The older you get, the harder forgiveness is to come by.

Raphaëla’s film seems to borrow a trick from “scripted reality”, the hybrid form used in television. Much of the story unfolds in what feel like semi-improvised set-ups: Shabu selling popsicles near his home on the Peperklip housing estate, or navigating relationship trouble with “wifey” Stephany. 

But unlike so much reality TV, nothing here feels inauthentic. Raphaëla tweaks the vérité to capture deeper truths about being young and the texture of a city childhood. As Shabu fails to focus on a well-intentioned local adult, the sound mix dips in and out in the style of the teacher from Peanuts. And as he cycles by the towers of Rotterdam’s waterfront, the summer nights glitter with promise. A hard world awaits, but for now that’s nothing to stop smiling about.

★★★★☆

In UK cinemas from July 7