Chicken Town (15) |Close-Up Film Review

As someone who’s taken many a peaceful stroll along Norfolk’s stunning coastlines, with the salty breeze in the air and a piping-hot vegan sausage roll in hand, the backdrop of Chicken Town instantly struck a chord.

I’ve visited the real-life settings that inspired this fictional world on the Norfolk/Lincolnshire border—and while my memories are more beach huts and oat lattes than bongs and backroom deals, there’s something undeniably authentic about the eccentric charm Chicken Town captures.

Set in a dead-end town where ambition’s in short supply and fried chicken is practically a food group, Chicken Town follows two underachieving school friends trying to claw their way out of boredom and into the big leagues. Their unlikely ticket? A shed full of weed accidentally cultivated by a green-fingered grandad on his allotment. Naturally, they do what any self-respecting dreamers would do—join forces and try to shift the stash.

Graham Fellows (legendary creator of John Shuttleworth and long-time voice of The Shuttleworths) is pitch-perfect as Kev Maddams, the ageing hippie horticulturalist whose innocent love of gardening leads to some seriously unintended consequences. Fellows brings warmth, wit, and a lived-in charm that makes Kev the perfect heart of the film.

Laurence Rickard—best known for Ghosts, Amandaland, and Paddington 2—is a deadpan delight as Greebo Mechanic (yes, really), bringing his usual off-kilter comic brilliance. He’s joined by the endlessly funny Alistair Green as Mr Green, a man as baffled as he is baffling. Green’s signature awkward timing and sideways delivery—honed from Alan Partridge to Ted Lasso to his viral comedy sketches—lands every time.

Ethanial Davy (Hollyoaks) adds another layer of pathos as Jayce, a young man fresh out of prison for a crime he didn’t commit, caught between a murky past and an equally murky future.

What follows is a madcap mission through chicken shops, dodgy dealers, and questionable life choices—all wrapped in a tone that flips effortlessly between the absurd and the oddly profound. Bracewell directs with a sure hand, letting the weirdness breathe while keeping the comedy razor sharp.

Chicken Town is proudly, gloriously British: scrappy, surreal, and full of soul. With its charming cast, chaotic energy and laugh-out-loud writing, it’s destined to be a cult classic. 

This  is a film that fries up something fresh!