Rise of the Footsoldier is a gritty crime drama with little concern for identity politics or forced representation. The character arcs center on violence, loyalty, and criminal life, with no emphasis on race, gender, or sexuality over narrative. If anything, this film almost seems nostalgic for old-school storytelling, even if those stories are a bit rough around the edges.

This film leans into traditional masculinity, sometimes to an uncomfortable degree, and certainly doesn’t make family, religion, or old-school values look obsolete. It depicts rough environments and amoral choices but not as a form of cultural revisionism, more as grim slice-of-life.

If anything, the film’s worldview may be too traditional for current tastes. Dissenting perspectives are present mainly in the form of rival gangs and law enforcement, but ideological uniformity toward ‘woke’ norms is virtually absent.