Ghosted (15)

Starring: John Lynch, Martin Compston, Craig Parkinson

Porridge with grit.

This British prison movie locks us down with lags and screws we've seen a fair few times before. John Lynch plays decent con Jack, whose wife's just dumped him close to the anniversary of their young son's death. In the meantime he takes young arsonist Paul (Martin Compston) under his wing so as to protect him from the brutish intentions of the ward psychopath (Craig Parkinson). But what is the horrible secret lurking at the heart of their relationship? Director Craig Viveiros catches the pasty skin-tones and wary camaraderie of the lag's life, but his characterisation divides too sharply between good guys and toerags, and his dialogue isn't overburdened with subtlety. The ending is way too abrupt, bristling with loose ends, which suggests that later scenes were cut or else Viveiros didn't know where to go with it.