It’s set in modern London, where discreetly wealthy young couple Kate (Clemence Poesy) and Justin (Stephen Campbell Moore) live in the top half of a Victorian town house. Downstairs, a more conspicuously well-off couple have just moved in – statuesque Theresa (Laura Birn) and her older, banker husband Jon (David Morrissey). Coincidentally, Theresa also happens to be pregnant,and Kate is envious to learn that Jon is so wealthy that he plans to take early retirement in just five years’ time – a far cry from Justin, who spends most of his waking life sitting in front of a desktop publishing package. The premise of two very different couples effectively sharing the same space is ripe for a claustrophobic psychodrama about the strains of modern parenting; some of the film’s most effective moments are the ones that explore Justin and Kate’s ambivalence towards parenthood. Sadly, The Ones Below entirely lacks the shadowy, taboo-busting power of The Babadook – a superbly shot and acted film about the dark side of parenthood. By contrast, The Ones Below is filmed and designed with the flat, sunny look of an Ikea commercial, while the performances fail to impart much in the way of emotional depth. David Morrisey, normally an excellent actor, appears to have based his character on an Easter Island statue – he glowers out at us from beneath his sternly furrowed brow, often while wearing orange polo shirts and turquoise sweaters. The Ones Below’s premise may nod to Polanski, but it more closely resembles the mid-budget domestic thrillers of the late 80s and 1990s in its execution – those passable yet largely disposable genre movie that were a cinema staple after the success of Fatal Attraction in 1987. It’s a cautionary reminder of how deceptively difficult it is to make a truly great thriller, particularly one with such a tiny group of characters and a handful of locations; every bit of casting has to be just right, every scene honed with a watchmaker’s precision. The Ones Below borrows from the best, but it fails to make those constituent parts cohere into a memorable whole. The Ones Below was playing at Glasgow Film Festival.