Essex Girls
We all know the familiar stereotype of an "Essex Girl" - blonde hair, fake tan, white...
That doesn't exactly describe Bisola.
Navigating adolescence in Benfleet, Essex hasn't been straightforward for British-Nigerian Bisola... no one here looks like her, she has no luck with the local lads and weathers microaggressions on the daily. She's done her best to fit in, but even her two best friends Charlie & Saffron, who love her to bits, seem to be understanding her less and less recently.
However, after an incident at her high school shunts her into the orbit of the only other Black girl in her year - the gorgeous, irrepressible Ashlee, who is everything Bisola wishes she could be - Bisola is plunged into a journey of discovering a whole new side of herself.
Ashlee might just be the gateway into another form of sisterhood that Bisola's craving... Will she be able to find the balance between these two worlds? Or in doing so will she push away her best friends?
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Based on writer/lead actress Busayo Ige’s real-life experiences of growing up in the coastal regions of Essex (South East England) - ESSEX GIRLS explores how it feels to be a Black girl in a mostly white regional space, how to find self-love in a sphere that doesn't always accommodate you, the magical power of female friendships and Black girl magic. All wrapped inside a warm, funny, nostalgic vision of 2009 Britain - the era of UK garage revival, Jane Norman bags, and BBM.
