The Boy With The Topknot

Pleasant and likable low-key drama/coming of age story is simultaneously too superficial and too ambitious, combining a study of racial/religious tensions with domestic violence (and mental illness); it's clearly a deeply felt and in its way moving tale, despite its inherent familiarities, but one wishes for a more substantive rendering (maybe even in a mini-series format) to tease out the dynamics of this quietly dysfunctional family. Well served by its cast of largely little-known performers.