Hallam Foe

A swathe of hype is forming around this, the latest film from Young Adam helmsman David Mackenzie - with good reason. It is an unfeasibly handsome product, a cracked urban fairytale replete with wicked stepmothers and brooding castles. A tender, woozy sense of atmosphere works greatly in the film’s favour, as does some winning cinematography: Edinburgh’s lonely byways and rooftops frame the tortured experiences of the titular figure, while much is made of the most stirring Scottish scenery this side of Local Hero.

Jamie Bell excels as Hallam, running from a turbulent past into the arms of Kate (Sophia Myles), a hotel worker who bears an uncanny resemblance to his dead mother. As Hallam, whose personal quirks include dressing in a fetching badger-skin cap and an appetite for out-and-out voyeurism, Bell radiates anger and naivety in equal measure. A series of strong supporting turns, including a winning appearance from Ewen Bremmer and a wonderfully icy Claire Forlani, flesh out the cast well.

Yet something never quite seems to gel. Whether it be the pop-psychology at the core of the narrative, or the hipper-than-thou soundtrack which will no doubt seal the film in a kind of fashionable, late noughties aspic, there seems something a little slight about the whole affair. The thriller elements are distinctly underplayed in the second half and wrapped up with so little fuss as to be secondary to the plot. One gets the sense that, for all it’s willing peculiarity, the film is somehow unable to work out quite where it’s content best lies.