Play (Ruben Ostlund, 2011)

7/10
Swedish film about a group of 5 young African-American boys who con a group of 3 other boys (2 white, 1 Asian) out of one of their cell phones. Despite an almost total lack of violence or any other form of physical intimidation, the film shows in cinema-verité style how the 3 victims become almost like slaves to their aggressors. They aren't physically being restrained, and all the action takes place in open, public spaces, generally under the indifferent eye of adults. The film acutely portrays the social hierarchies in the groups - either as two units of 5 and 3, or together as a whole, while never dropping the tension between them. It's a very deft take on the way kids interact with each other, whether in situations of power or submissiveness. But the ending is kind of silly and a simultaneous plot thread about a cradle abandoned on a train is distracting more than anything else.