Broken Law

Cert: 16; selected cinemas

Joe (Graham Earley) is just out from a stretch with every intention of going straight. Fellow hoods Wallace (John Connors) and Pete (Ryan Lincoln) won’t have any of it, and it’s not long before Joe is slurping and snorting and hearing out plans for a new score ripping off a local Dublin credit union.

Cut to principled Garda Dave (Tristan Heanue). He is called to a tussle outside a nightclub where he finds his ne’er-do-well brother covered in bruises. That brother is, of course, Joe and it’s the first time they’ve seen each other since Joe went away. After taking him in, Dave happens to then be applying for a loan the day of the credit union job, resulting in a botched hostage situation with clerk Amia (GemmaLeah Devereux) who is drawn into the brothers’ clash.

Joe, meanwhile, has stirred the ire of Wallace, who suspects him of swiping the loot.

Producer and filmmaker Paddy Slattery comes good on the promise of his short-film work with this galloping, adrenal saga that boasts a sizzling soundtrack and a cast emptying itself on to the screen.

Sure, its tale of brothers on opposite sides of the law is driven by genre tropes, but there are light touches in the dialogue and backdrop (Dublin’s housing crisis) that nod to a keen cinematic sensibility.