Broken Lines review

With its North London gloomscape locations, brooding soundtrack and endless scenes of kitchen-sink misery, this glowering low-budget drama owes its haunted melancholy to Mike Leigh’s Naked.

Alas, that’s where the comparisons end. Centred on a grieving Jewish prodigal son (Dan Fredenburgh) developing an unhealthy relationship with a married waitress (Doraly Rosa), it’s atmospheric and well-paced.

But even Paul Bettany and Olivia Williams in support can’t detract from a corny script full of dangling plot threads that resolves itself with a shrug of an ending.