In the age of streaming and overproduction, it's become difficult to find a drama that feels completely original. Supacell (Netflix) is not a drama. With supernatural happenings in the neighborhood, drug-related turf wars, and time travel, it's a grab-bag of DNA from other storylines, from Misfits to Attack the block to Top Boy has The Lazarus Project. There is even a conscious nod to Meeting vigilantes.
The premise is that five black Londoners accidentally discover a superpower that makes their irises glow gold. Street vendor Rodney (Calvin Demba) can run as fast as Dash in The Incredibles. Sabrina, a nurse (Nadine Mills), moves objects telekinetically. Teenage musician Tazer (Josh Tedeku) can disappear and reappear. Ex-con Andre (Eric Kofi-Abrefa) is really, really strong. It's the usual shopping list.
As for deliveryman Michael (played by former Doctor Who companion Tosin Cole), he can suspend time. During a quick trip to the future, he learns that the present needs to be rewritten urgently. He can only do this by recruiting others to help him, but first he must find them.
The superpower stuff is entertaining enough, and well captured in solid video-game sound effects. But it’s also a conscientious portrait of bustling, black London – its roots, its subcultures, its sociopolitics. “This is not a fucking comic book,” Rodney tells a friend who recommends using his superpower for good. “This is real life.”
The title plays on the prevalence of sickle cell disease among people of African or Afro-Caribbean descent – although that's not the only reason half the cast ends up in the hospital. The screenplay is by Rapman, whose 2019 Movie Blue Story He describes the pressures that gang life places on young men. Inevitably, this again absorbs much of his attention.