THE incomparable Idris Elba sets his sights on proving himself a worthy figure of cinema behind the camera with this vibrant coming-of-age crime thriller that tells a story with a distinctive viewpoint on a been there, done that world.

Based on the novel by Jamaican-born author Victor Headley, the film follows “D”, a young boy living in early 1970s Kingston, Jamaica, with his older brother Jerry (Everaldo Creary). When his brother is murdered, D is forced to grow up tough under the wing of local crime boss King Fox (Sheldon Shephard).

Ten years after the fateful incident, D (now played by Kidulthood’s Aml Ameen) is dispatched by King Fox to London to avoid a full-blown war on their Kingston turf. Once there he reconnects with childhood sweetheart Yvonne (Shantol Jackson) who has been living there for years with his daughter he hasn’t seen since she was a baby.

Just as he starts to find himself on a righteous path, D stumbles across an opportunity for revenge against the man who killed his brother, causing him to end up on the wrong side of ruthless local crime figure Rico (an enjoyably outrageous Stephen Graham).

Elba is without a doubt one of the most distinctive and charismatic leading men of his generation. But his foray into directing does present some of the hallmarks of a first-timer; while throwing some ambitious punches, there’s an uneven quality to the narrative, never fully reconciling the differences between on-the-nose attempts at redemptive emotional resonance and the harsh realities of our central character’s life of crime which perpetually sucks him back in like quicksand.

However, there’s much to like in this feisty debut, chiefly the sense of atmosphere that Elba conjures. His film positively throbs with reggae-inflected beats and rhythms of old and new; it’s in his ability to immerse you in the smoky visions and thumping sounds, his refreshing handle on time and place, where Elba’s strength as a director really shines through.

This palpable atmosphere is coupled with a central character not usually seen in this type of story, giving us a fresh way into what is otherwise a fairly pedestrian gangland crime saga – it feels like hitting old story beats with a new fist. At times it gives off the vibe of being a more serious-minded Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, replacing the cockamamie heist with a quest for impassioned revenge and the need to find peace.

Though flawed in ways that stop it well short of greatness, there’s enough here to make the familiar journey worthwhile, not least Ameen’s charismatic lead performance and Elba’s talent for making us feel like we’re right there in the thick of it.