Pirates review – Reggie Yates romp set on New Year’s Eve 1999

Three friends head for a garage rave to see in the millennium in Yates’s irrepressible directorial debut

It’s New Year’s Eve 1999 and three best friends are driving around north London in a little yellow Peugeot 205 they’ve christened the “Custard Cream”. Think Superbad, but sweeter, as Cappo (Elliot Edusah), Kidda (a scene-stealing Reda Elazouar) and Two Tonne (Jordan Peters) pursue tickets for a sold-out garage rave on the brink of a new millennium. If all goes to plan, Two Tonne will kiss his crush, Sophie (Kassius Nelson), at the stroke of midnight.

It’s a bouncy, grin-inducing romp through Caribbean takeaways, designer boutiques stacked with Moschino streetwear and one ill-advised trip south of the river. Sunglasses are worn inside; a member of So Solid Crew is set on fire. The film is as irrepressibly likable as its writer-director, the broadcaster and actor Reggie Yates. The period references to toy Tamagotchis, plum-coloured church suits and garage bangers such as Roy Davis Jr’s Gabriel feel ripped directly from his own youth.