The Toll

Revolvers are cocked. Shotguns are racked and Winchester rifles are primed. Eyes squint and scan. The night sky is lit up by gunfire. Blood splatters. A machete spins across the sky and impales itself in someone's mouth. The wild west is a bloody, venal, seedy place where no one is safe. No one. The wild west of Wales that is.

The English come to die in Pembrokeshire. The graffiti says so. One such Englishman passing through Wales on his way to a ferry to Ireland does anyway. Soon after he recognises Toll Booth (Michael Smiley), so called because it's been his job for the past 29 years. It's quiet work, no one bothers you, you can look the other way and Toll does so often and because of him crime is thriving in the small village nearby. Catrin's (Annes Elwy) the only cop in town who cares about what's happening in the locale. It's a year after her father's death and she's channeled her grief into her work. Now strange things are happening and she needs to figure out why. And it all starts with the robbery of Toll Booth's watch, £1.20 and a ham sandwich. Why £1.20 you ask? The toll is 40p and that's a whole day's takings. STAKES ARE HIGH.

Yep, it's a quirky one. Can you tell? But it's not self consciously so. Every wacky plotline benefits the story. Every odd new character adds to the stew. The Asian/American Elvis impersonator and her vocally impaired girlfriend, the murderous triplets who vote on every crime, the ambulance medic to whom the Hippocratic oath is non existent or the blind Shawshank Redemption fan who knows everything happening in town. None are set dressing, all interact believably with each other and each one plays a part and you'll feel the grin crawl across your face as you realise how. Even the fractured narrative, a plot device done to death at this stage is fun, leaving you guessing and second guessing just what it exactly going on here.

It packs a lot in in it's 82 minutes. Maybe too much. One much feared character gets short shrift when he finally arrives but the brevity of his appearance will make you giggle too. It's just another unpredictable turn The Toll takes. Casting Michael Smiley in the lead is a fine move. That hangdog, dead behind the eyes look as Toll, used so well by Ben Wheatley and Edgar Wright, you never know what's he's thinking, what he'll do next. A horrific past is hinted at but never made clear, he's a walking talking macguffin of a man. Catrin's his exact opposite. Open, inquisitive, making time for everyone, respected by the villagers but not above a joke either when questions in a packed pub turns into a film themed pisstake of epic proportions. It's her story you'll cling to and where you'll get an ending that ties everything together in a satisfying fashion.

"What's that book you're reading.........oh I've read that. Nothing happens.... it's brilliant." The final line of the film is a big ol' wink at the camera but the nothing happens part couldn't be less accurate. What starts as gloomy British drama ends up in the Wild West helped along by belly laughs and brutality and a couple of digs at the English, who are, would you believe it, never not at it.

The Toll is out now to watch on Google Movies and it's well worth your couple of quid.