Never Had a Chance is a debut crime drama from director Jazz Bhalla, set entirely within London's Punjabi community in Hounslow, an unusual choice that gives the film a distinctive, grounded authenticity. The story follows two best friends in their 20s, Ravi and Jay, whose seemingly different lives, one marked by a criminal record and estrangement from family, the other outwardly stable but privately troubled, gradually collide as their problems come to a head.

Ravi (Amar Chaggar), who has a drug-related criminal record, lives alone in a bedsit and takes a job at a building supply merchant while pursuing a relationship with Sukhi (Tina Sharma), who wants to escape her own troubled family. Jay (Jayant Singh), who appears more settled living with his middle-class parents, is secretly battling a gambling addiction and gets drawn into selling cocaine, ultimately using the supply himself. The review praises Bhalla's assured direction and strong performances, particularly in capturing the male social scene of strip-lit clubs and pool halls, though it notes the plot's convergence of crises feels somewhat overdetermined.