FILMS

When the bullets fly, Birds Of Passage is as satisfying as any Hollywood thriller

BEATS Previous attempts to document the late-’80s/ early-’90s acid-house scene have not proved entirely satisfactory. For every 24 Hour Party People there has been a Spike Island. Beats is a coming-of-age story set in Glasgow’s illegal rave scene during the ’90s, where Scottish director Brian Welsh meticulously re-creates the days when kids in tie-dye would play motorway tag with fugitive sound systems, descending on warehouse raves with the police in hot pursuit. Welsh – whose credits include the 2011 Black Mirror episode The Entire History Of You – draws from his own experiences to create a film that explores universal ideas and themes while remaining pleasingly culturally specific.

Adapted from a stage play by Kieran Hurley, Welsh’s film depicts the friendship