Dark tale of family life gone wrong is gritty and gripping

Actor Dexter Fletcher makes an assured directorial debut with a gritty tale of retribution and reconciliation, shot largely on the mean streets of east London.

While there may be dodgy geezers, explosions of graphic violence, and cheeky one-liners, Wild Bill isn’t another tepid crime caper in the mould of Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels.

Fletcher and co-writer Danny King fashion a story of familial strife and bad choices that propels the narrative into the same dark realms as the Michael Caine revenge thriller Harry Brown.

Charlie Creed-Miles and Will Poulter anchor the film with terrific performances as a penitent parent and enraged son, torn apart by a eight-year prison spell.

Bill Hayward (Creed-Miles) is granted parole and he nervously returns to the tower block he shared with his family.

Bill discovers that his ex-wife has abandoned their two children: 15-year-old Dean (Poulter) and 11-year-old Jimmy (Williams).

The older boy is working illegally on a building site to keep food on the table.

Bill accidentally reveals to his case worker (Olivia Williams) that his boys have been home alone for months and social workers Helen (Winstone) and John (Flemyng) descend with the intention of taking the minors into care.

So Dean blackmails his father into staying around to keep the authorities off their back and he reluctantly agrees to play happy families with local girl Roxy (White).

However, when one of the lads gets into trouble with thug Terry (Gregory) and his goons (Maskell, Rheon), Bill must risk everything to protect his emotionally-battered brood.

Opening with a series of tracking shots of the central character leaving prison, Wild Bill quickly establishes the boys’ predicament and Dean’s unwillingness to let Bill swan back into his life.

Wounds are gradually salved with the minimum sickly sentiment, and Fletcher finds moments of beauty amid the grime such as a lovely scene of Bill and Jimmy throwing paper aeroplanes off their balcony.