Ashley Walters to make directorial debut with ‘Animol’ – check out these exclusive images

Ashley Walters’ directorial debut Animol is set to premiere later this week but NME readers can check out an early look at the brutal film below.

• READ MORE: Ashley Walters’ very busy life after ‘Top Boy’: “I’m a man now, so I wanna do man things”

Directed by Walters from a script written by Nick Love (Goodbye Charlie Bright, Marching Powder), Animol tells the story of Troy (Tut Nyuot) who is thrust into a brutal world of gangs, loyalty and violence when he arrives at a young offender institution.

“From the moment he arrives, he is tested. Paired with a volatile cellmate, Troy is forced to deal with daily threats and power struggles. An unspoken bond with a fellow inmate offers solace in the oppressive environment, but their growing connection becomes a dangerous vulnerability,” reads the official logline. The film also stars Vladyslav Baliuk (Krystian), Sekou Diaby (Dion) and Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Joy) while Stephen Graham plays welfare worker Claypole.

Animol premieres later this week (October 11) at the BFI London Film Festival (tickets are available here) before a full release on October 30. Before that though, NME readers can see a handful of exclusive images from the film below.

WATCH

“On arriving behind bars, Troy quickly comes into the orbit of two people who will define his life inside: dominant kingpin Dion and wisecracking Krystiyan. Will these relationships help him survive, or bring about his downfall? Having already carved out a career as one of the UK’s most talented actors, Walters now emerges as an exciting filmmaking voice,” said the London Film Festival.

Speaking to NME last year, Walters said Animol was the “hardest thing” he’s ever done.

He went on to explain that while on set, he and Graham prayed together before filming and had discussions about their working-class imposter syndrome. “We talk about it every day. “It’s me going, ‘Sometimes I don’t feel like I’m meant to be here. Sometimes I don’t feel I’m good enough to have it.’ It’s something a lot of us suffer with and it’s a double whammy for me because I’m Black,” Walters said.

“Some of the places I go into are completely white-dominated. Feeling like people don’t want you there or they’re waiting for you to fail, I use that as fuel. It hasn’t broken me yet.”