Here is a terrific British thriller that exploits its high concept to the point of narrative implosion without quite teetering over that dangerous edge. Nodding to classic British kitchen-sinkism, Restless addresses an annoyance most urban viewers will have endured and reminds them of how they feared (or wished) they might respond.
Depending on your view, Nicky (Lyndsey Marshal, magnificent) has, following the death of her parents and her son’s evacuation to college, either slipped into lonely complacency or found an agreeable way of living alone. When not working at a care home, she chats to her cat, bakes high-end brownies, listens to classical music and – somehow hearing commentary from only a credited Ken Doherty – watches the snooker on telly.
That equilibrium is shattered when new neighbours move in and, from morning to night, shake the walls with pounding electronic dance music. When she complains politely to burly, bearded Deano (Aston McAuley) he is initially apologetic but within hours the thumping beats have again begun, as have the yelling, the boozing and the sex with underage girls.
So desperate does Lyndsey become that she ends up driving her car elsewhere to have a brief uneasy sleep interrupted by Barry Ward as a traffic official.
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People in such positions will half-seriously worry about going insane. They will fantasise about taking ill-advised revenge. The former leads, perhaps, to the latter as Nicky, getting no joy from law enforcement, breaks in and sets to sabotaging that night’s party. From this point on, she is compromised – perhaps fatally.
Jed Hart, in his debut feature, pitches the tone perfectly. The build from irritation to fury to desperation progresses at a steady pace. Black Hitchcockian humour – there is a little of Rear Window in Lyndsey’s tense incursions next door – is supplemented by Ward’s comic turn as a bumbler who offers his pal charmingly hopeless assistance.
As the action progresses, one worries there may be no satisfactory way to end things, but Hart manages a closing swerve that satisfies all such concerns.
Cat lovers may seek either reassurance or warning as to the fate of the much-loved Reggie. Any such spoiler would, however, betray the critics’ oath. You must take your chances with this impressively stressful entertainment.
In cinemas from Friday, April 4th
