The Bike Thief

by Matt Chambers

After a delivery driver's moped is stolen, he must find it before he loses everything else.

To the Rider his moped is everything. As a pizza delivery driver it is his livelihood. As a breadline straddling, immigrant father it is his family's anchor. It takes his wife to work. It gets his daughter to school. So when one night the moped is stolen, his world collapses. He has to get back his bike – or replace it – in whatever way possible, before his next shifts starts. If he fails, he won't just lose his job, he will lose it all. He tries to ask the few familiar faces for help in this unfamiliar, disorienting city. However, as he runs out of time and his options are wearing thin, his moral compass begins to crack and he grows more and more willing to forgo his conscience in order to save himself and his family.

Genre / Language / Length
Drama / English, Romanian / 79 minutes
Original title
The Bike Thief
directed by
Matt Chambers
produced by
Ugly Duckling Films and Ellipsis Pictures, in association with Twickenham Studios
Cast
  • Alec Secareanu (GOD'S OWN COUNTRY)
  • Anamaria Marinca (4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS)
  • Lucien Msamati
  • Aaron Neil
  • June Watson
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Press Quotes

"An affecting snapshot of a family doing their best to get by."
"Perceptive and thoughtful."
"Writer/director Matt Chambers has astutely turned his debut feature into an involving story about surviving in an unforgiving world."
"There is a lingering and soulful physicality to Secareanu's on-screen presence."
"Precise, specific, yet also universal."
SCREEN INTERNATIONAL

****
"Chambers delivers a Ken-Loach-after-dark dissection of the gig economy and Brexit Britain."
"Its street-level tension, moody score and natural performances painting a confrontational and compassionate depiction of the immigrant experience; a considered yet concrete slab of social realism."
THE UPCOMING

"Secareanu's performance is quiet but telling."
"There's a powerful air of quiet menace that grows."
HEY U GUYS

"A gripping drama-thriller, with an excellent performance by Alec Secareanu."
CINEMA SOLACE

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