Sitting in a police interview room opposite coaxing, inquisitive cop DI West (Timothy Spall), Harvey Denton (Luke Treadaway) is bloodied, battered and beaten, accused of being part of a failed robbery and of attempted murder, and set to return to the prison he’s only come out of a month before.

Yet as Denton tells his story of that month, of the spiteful injustice that saw him banged up, of the second chance he’s been given by girlfriend Nicola (Vanessa Kirkby) and, principally, of the unflinching loyalty displayed between him and his three mates, a different picture emerges. Set in Yorkshire, with a sharp script and lively, convincing performances from its young cast, Wasteland is the bold first feature from writer and director Rowan Athale. It is a rare thing, a British crime caper that avoids the clichés of the genre, emerging as inventive, funny and surprisingly touching.