Naked Singularity — John Boyega holds together an overdressed mess

Despite its title, Naked Singularity is an overdressed and muddled mash-up of several incompatible genres. Based on an award-winning and critically lauded novel by Sergio de la Pava and featuring a strong cast, it is part crime caper and part polemical denunciation of the US’s criminal justice system. There are also sprinklings of sci-fi and dark comedy that involve a Mexican drug cartel, Hasidic Jews with criminal connections, and a distinctly wobbly American accent from supporting player Bill Skarsgard that wanders around the Eastern Seaboard, with occasional jaunts to Ireland and Sweden.

Even so, give it a good sift and you’ll find a few sparkly nuggets in the silt. Lead actor John Boyega, for example, holds it all together with his immensely likeable turn as Casi, a New York-based public defender trying his best for his clients and holding on to the last few shreds of belief in doing what’s right. Unfortunately for him, he’s up against a crushing system, represented by tart-tongued stickler Judge Cymbeline (Linda Lavin, hilarious), and some clients, such as ex-con Lea (Olivia Cooke), who just can’t wait for justice to be served.

Lea has been pulled into a scheme to salvage several kilos of heroin hidden in an impounded SUV by Craig (Ed Skrein, compelling), a skanky one-night stand she regrets swiping right on. On the story’s periphery there is Angus (Tim Blake Nelson in a long-haired wig) talking portentously about the multiverse and whatnot as onscreen captions count down to the day when all the characters, including Casi and his colleague Dane (Skarsgard), make plays to acquire the four-door MacGuffin.

Chase Palmer, the film’s director and co-writer (with David Matthews), hacks away at this thick forest of high concepts and plot detail, but it all just keeps growing back, making for a tangled mess that’s as irritating as a stroll through a nettle patch.

★★☆☆☆

On Sky Cinema from January 2