Most of the action takes place, as the title suggests, in a big tower block. This is, however, a tower block that’s ripe for demolition, with nobody in the surrounding area, and with just a bunch of people left living on the top floor. It’s an uneasy life they live, not least thanks to the presence of Kurtis, played by Jack O’Connell. As he goes to door to door demanding protection money, you can’t help but think you’re in for another gritty urban drama. He takes time to work up and establish characters (it’s an ensemble where you’ll feel you know more than two of them by the time the credits roll), and keeps a sufficient number of cards close to his chest. The downside to this is that the ending, after the excellent build up to it, feels like the weakest part of the movie. It’s entirely fair in the way it plays out, but for reasons we won’t go into for spoiler reasons, the explanation doesn’t feel quite as interesting as the main premise. Yet that main premise is played out well for the rest of the movie. Directors James Nunn and Ronnie Thompson keep the film dimly lit (once or twice you might want to lend them a torch, in fact), and they capture the claustrophobia of the situation well. They, too, keep their focus throughout. Jack O’Connell, meanwhile, is utterly scene stealing and quite brilliant as Kurtis. As comfortably the least likeable character in the whole ensemble, O’Connell deploys humour and an approach to swearing that’s not too far out of Don Logan’s playbook. It means the film lifts every time he’s on the screen. His performance alone is good reason to watch the film. But then, there are other good reasons too. It’s a British thriller, that sets out its parameters and plays well within them. For long periods, it’s engrossing and intriguing, too, and while it might just be five minutes or so too long, it’s a very well put together piece of work. Britain isn’t supposed to be good at making films like this. As it turns out, it’s a good job that nobody told the Tower Block team…