‘Restless’ is a suburban nightmare drama, with surrealist black comedy touches, about a middle aged woman on a residential estate whose peace is shattered when unruly neighbours move in, playing loud music all through the night. The fact that they have taken root in the house formerly occupied by her late parents all contributes to the notion that something is sharply out of alignment, and her mental health goes into freefall as she ends up following the sort of conventions laid out by a horror movie rather than the more Mike Leigh-appearing kitchen sink drama that it otherwise purports to be.

In some ways it is a British version of ‘Unlawful Entry’ or ‘Lakeview Terrace’ in the ways it shows a seemingly respectable, law-abiding citizen going down a path that leads to them taking leave of their senses. In that sense this is a psychological case study of a movie which is not just about the extreme measures that Nicky (Lyndsey Marshal) takes when she is besieged by the nasty Deano (Aston McCauley), but the way in which Nicky ups the ante in her own life and seeks to find new ways of making connections with blasts from her past, embodied here by the friendship she cultivates through this adversity with the socially awkward Kevin (Barry Ward) with whom she becomes reacquainted while seeking quiet and solitude away from her domestic chaos.

With a son away at university, Nicky lives on her own and we observe her paradoxically move from being the victim of someone else’s aggravation to someone who is herself capable of finding the right way to neuter the threat that is posed. It is here that the film falls into dark comedy territory, but ‘Restless’ never loses its way as a parable about urban alienation. Nicky goes from tortured victim to the initiator of a revenge narrative, as she moves through various stages of withdrawal, grief, denial and finally affirmative action.