Urchin (2025)

Skin Deep - Urchin review by griggs

Something prickly and promising lurks beneath the surface of Urchin — and like its spiny namesake, it’s easier to admire from a distance than to fully embrace.

Harris Dickinson clearly knows how to frame a shot, and there are moments where the atmosphere and imagery cut deep. But the film keeps drifting into dreamlike detours that feel very first-time filmmaker: portentous, self-conscious, distracting. The real dramatic question is sitting right there in the centre. Has Mike fallen through society’s cracks, or engineered his own collapse? The film seems oddly uninterested in finding out, content to skim the surface rather than dig beneath it. That can work — but only if the foundations feel solid, and Urchin never quite gets there.

There’s a sharp director in here, no question. But sharp edges without depth just scratch. Promising, frustrating, and too content to mistake mystery for meaning.