I Came By

New on Netflix is a British crime thriller, written and directed by Babak Anvari. Toby (George McKay) and Jay (Percelle Ascott) are disaffected young men and graffiti writers. They have decided to “attack” the establishment by breaking into homes of influential people and tagging them with their signature graffiti “I came by”. However when Jay finds out his girlfriend (Veranda Sethu) is pregnant he tells Toby he’s out. Toby decides to carry on alone and targets a well known judge, Sir Hector Blake (Hugh Bonneville). However, when he breaks into his home he makes a shocking discovery. When nobody hears from him, his mum Lizzie (Kelly McDonald), not satisfied with police efforts, decides that she is going to investigate and discovers the shocking background of Blake and the institutional connections that are seemingly covering it up.

This is an intriguing if rather nuts and bolts crime thriller which is elevated by a wonderfully sinister central performance from Hugh Bonneville. As with all the best movie baddies, less is more, his restrained menace and casual approach to his acts are chilling. As is his arrogance and privilege, that seemingly protect him from justice.

He is well supported by other strong performances from McKay, Prescott and Kelly McDonald who all bring differing levels of desperation with their situation.

While it is intriguing and has surprising turns It’s not perfect. It has a bit of an odd time jumping narrative that takes you a while to catch on to, so can confuse. But most importantly it is hampered by the classic thriller issue of people making stupid, unbelievable decisions, decisions that I found distracting as I tried not to shout at the screen “why would you do that?”.

While not destined to be a classic, it is a solid thriller. What makes it worth watching is Bonneville’s fantastic performance which is full of restraint and sinister motive. It’s hard to tell whether his actions or the way his privilege seemingly protects him from the law is the most chilling! Because that feels a little to close to reality for comfort.