17/03/2022 - Reggie Yates remembers the great panic of New Year’s Eve 1999, but this time, it’s not about the millennium bug

Elliot Edusah, Reda Elazouar and Jordan Peters in Pirates

Everyone else is already doing it, so it’s time to fully embrace the Y2K nostalgia – after all, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Pirates, a UK production directed by Reggie Yates – and shown in SXSW’s Narrative Spotlight – is certainly following this trend with aplomb, showing three best friends (Elliot Edusah, Jordan Peters and Reda Elazouar) trying their best to have a “wicked” New Year’s Eve of 1999. And, as always in these situations, they will have to work for it – hard.

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All they need is to get tickets for the best party in town. But, somehow, these wannabe pirate-radio broadcasters have managed to annoy all of the possible gatekeepers. Also, everyone has something else on their minds these days – be it a new girl, whose hair smells so lovely, or a promising future that, if everything goes according to plan, will probably mean leaving old buddies behind. Conflicted, they are driving around London, joking and “Waiting for Tonight”, just like J.Lo, knowing it might be the very last time.

Which is why, although the stakes seem relatively low here, they are really anything but. It’s not just about getting those damned tickets, obviously; it’s about proving that, despite everything that might be happening soon, there is still hope that this friendship will last. When things go wrong, which they do, they take it personally, as yet another sign that the good times are about to end. Deep down, it’s all very melancholic, even despite the craziness and the kinds of tunes that make you want to watch this film on a treadmill.

There is something truly wonderful about stories about just hanging out – Richard Linklater probably knows that best. Yates, who has cast some very good actors here, also seems more interested in spending time with them (or the UK garage scene) than in coming up with any significant subplots. They shoplift, get punched in the face – but without giving the opponent “the satisfaction of tears” – sing along in a car like it’s Wayne’s World all over again, and try to pacify an ex-girlfriend with a grudge (Rebekah Murrell, delivering a master class on angrily drinking a juice carton) by reciting the lyrics to “I Want It That Way” by Backstreet Boys. From an album that was actually called Millennium, although knowing such details brings no glory these days.

It's very sweet, although it probably won’t linger in the memory for too long (that being said, Elazouar’s delight over a single mention of “boob” needs to be seen to be believed). While just about every adult they meet looks at them in disgust, in just a few years, the tables will probably have turned – which makes you long to be young and stupid again, feed your Tamagotchi and steal some Moschino shirts. And although the realisation that “eventually, everything changes” is hardly anything new, when it hits you for the first time in your life, it’s a big deal and it breaks your heart. Kudos to Yates for remembering that.

Written by Reggie Yates, Pirates, a UK production, was staged by Kate Norrish and Polly Leys. Its international sales have been entrusted to Gunpowder & Sky.