“Shank” has its sweet and tender moments but it generally is a dark and gritty movie. With the opening scene of thugs filming their brutal assault on a man, with jarring gangster rap music in the background, I questioned if “Shank” was my cup of tea. But by the end of the film, I was sitting on the edge of my seat wondering if any of the fascinating characters would live happily ever after, especially after the brutal climax, which left me in tears.

The story is a look at the sociology of gang members, where two of them are closeted gays. Baseball-capped, gold-chain-adorned teenager Cal (Wayne Virgo) is obviously deeply attracted to fellow testosterone-fueled gang member Jonno (Tom Bott), who in turn hasn’t even recognized he is attracted to Cal.

During one scene when the two are shirtless and smoking pot in Cal’s car, Jonno gives Cal a “blowback” or “shotgun” and it just reeks of raw male sexuality. If a cellphone didn’t go off a few seconds later, these two stoned lads would have been all over each other.

The gang leader is Nesse (Alice Payne), a ruthless leader who appears to be Jonno’s girlfriend, but also has a history with Cal. The gang goes about looking for immigrants, gays, anyone not like themselves, to beat up.

When Cal unexpectedly rescues French Art student Olivier (Marc Laurent), the victim of a gay bashing by the gang, and embarks on a tender romance with the gentle student, his relationship with Nesse and Jonno changes radically.

Being both disturbing and erotic, “Shank” skillfully tackles the issues of working-class British homophobia, and youth and gang violence, building a convincing picture of gay life at street level.

“Shank” is a unique “coming out” story – a highly recommended dark cinematic tale worth experiencing.

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