The news headlines make grim reading.

Teenagers are dying on the streets of London every month, the victims of a disenfranchised youth culture deter- mined to make its voice heard with knives and guns. Cinema has always sought to reflect contemporary concerns, so Noel Clarke's hard-hitting snapshot of 21st century life on the streets of the capital couldn't arrive at a better time.

Purporting to reflect the shattered dreams and senseless actions of a lost generation, Adulthood paints a gloomy picture of a world dominated by sex and drugs, where respect is earned by pummelling a rival into submission.

Set six years after the events of Kidulthood, this sequel is a vanity project for writer and actor Noel Clarke, who takes control behind the camera as well, replacing director Menhaj Huda. Admittedly, the 22-year-old Londoner delivers the most compelling performance in the film but you'd expect nothing less when he gifts himself the best lines.

Unfortunately, his ear for dialogue hasn't improved in the intervening years and the portrayals of his co-stars feel as fake and contrived as some of the conversations, laden with expletives and street slang.

Six years after school bully Sam (Clarke) killed Trife (Aml Ameen), he is released from prison and returns to his old stomping ground in West London. The ex-con sets about tracking down the people he hurt.

None of them is in a mood to absolve Sam of his sins, not least Trife's best friend Jay (Adam Deacon).

For a few thousand pounds, he can hire some local thugs to teach Sam a brutal lesson in forgiveness.

If this is an honest and unflinching representation of modern Britain, then heaven help us. Clarke doesn't just embrace cliches, he elevates them to giddy new heights, populating the streets with bad boys who posture and cuss with no conviction.