The Toll: Movie Review

Cast: Michael Smiley, Annes Elwy, Paul Kaye, Iwan Rheon

Director: Ryan Andrew Hooper

Simultaneously a crime drama and a dark comedy that's as dry as they come, The Toll features Kill List's Michael Smiley as an unnamed operator of a toll booth in Wales.

Set in rural Pembrokeshire ("where English people come to die") the movie taps into the small-town mentality and the small-town bravado where small fish view themselves as criminal masterminds, this droll movie follows the Smiley's toll booth employee who finds himself on the receiving end of a bad day.

Robbed by a trio of balaclava-clad girls, who exhort him to follow them on Instagram after robbing him of his ham sandwich, Smiley's man demands retribution. But while he waits, he's recognised by a figure from his past that shows up accidentally, throwing a brief light on an unnamed crime from 30 years ago so heinous he had to disappear.

The Toll's less interested in providing big answers to the mysteries proffered early on, preferring instead to focus on the interactions of key players as Elwy's local police officer investigates.

While it runs at 81 minutes, The Toll just about manages to keep the flow going, before ending up in an almighty shoot-out involving a female Elvis impersonator and other ne'er do wells.

It may be a sardonic piece led by a miserable-looking Smiley, but while Elwy brings a little warmth to the proceedings, the film's desire to continue to push the darker edges is to be applauded (and there is a distinct feeling it could have gone darker in all honesty as it fumbles with Fargo-esque trappings and The League of Gentlemen edges).

Well worth paying the price, The Toll is here-for-a-good-time,not-a-long-time film that's worth investing in.

The Toll airs on Rialto Channel on January 5 at 8.30pm.