'The Guvnors' sees two generations of London gangs lock horns for supremacy. One is led by Rizzle Kick’s Harley Sylvester, a sly, confident young man with a unnerving scar on his cheek and a nonchalant brand of terror; the other is Mitch (Doug Allen), a now retired hooligan who gets dragged back into the old life when trouble brews in the capital. 

The GuvnorsHarley Sylvester leads a young gang in London

So it’s not the most original of premises; The Guvnors is a hybrid of British film’s most distinctive genres: football hooligan and gangster flick, made so lovingly quintessential to the nation by Guy Richie. But the British penchant for hardy criminals and violent support of the national game hasn’t always produced the finest quality cinema. 

More: Watch the video for Rizzle Kick's Tell Her

However, it’s difficult to watch the trailer and not be at least intrigued by Sylvester’s performance. Primarily known for producing a brand of hip-hop/pop known for a predominantly teenage female fan-base, his menacing swagger and eerie habit of spitting between his teeth cut a remarkably different figure to that seen frolicking around at T4 on The Beach.

Watch the trailer for The Guvnors here


Two things have popped out from the reviews so far: the film’s script and Harley’s debut performance. “Sylvester delivers a stand-out performance as the fearsome, scar-faced Shanko; heightened by an almost hypnotic rhythm in his line-readings,” writes The List’s Matthew Turner. 

Starring alongside Sylvester and Allen are David Essex, Vas Blackwood, Jay Simpson, Tony Denham, Martin Hancock, Richard Blackwood, Charley Palmer Merkell, Barrington Patterson, Tom Davis,Christopher Hatherall, Craig Canning, Tom Dunlea, and Jumayn Hunter. The Guvnors is set for release in the UK on August 29.

The Guvnors movie
The Guvnors