A superbly paced and performed crime thriller that gives weight to the concept of mortal sin, The Drop once again sees the words of Dennis Lehane adapted into gripping, character driven cinema.

If a cop wants to sniff out an unknown criminal, perhaps they should keep an eye on the conflicted, shady looking bloke who sits in his pew as others line-up for communion. For those who don’t know, the consumption of the “Body of Christ” during Eucharist cannot be done if one is guilty of mortal sin, with repentance through confession needed to receive the Holy bread.

For 8 years Bob (Tom Hardy) has refused communion. By first impressions he is a quiet man, a religious man and a mysterious man. While he works at a Chechen backed bar managed by his cousin Marv (James Gandolfini) that’s the centre of much criminal activity, Bob is not a part of that world. He just “tends the bar”.

Yet when Marv’s establishment is chosen as a “drop bar”, the place where the dirty money that travels through the bowels of Brooklyn ends up for collection, life gets very complicated for this simple man who has many secrets. Things get messier when a prospective romance with tough yet sweet local girl Nadia (Noomi Rapace) hits a snag when her violent ex-boyfriend Eric (Matthias Schoenaerts) comes back to town.

Hardy plays the role of Bob with a masterful restraint and charming sensitivity. In many ways it’s a turn that reminds of Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront and Sylvester Stallone in Rocky, that blue collar performance where a humbling charm covers a raging beast within, Hardy’s quiet intensity deployed to startling effect alongside a warmth that makes his Bob a character to like, as well as to be fearful of.

The Drop is well documented as the last performance by the late, great James Gandolfini, and once again he displays that brilliant gruff naturalism in his portrayal of a bitter man who cannot leave sleeping dogs lie. Noomi Rapace struggles with her Brooklyn accent, yet is never the less effective as Hardy’s tough as nails love interest. And then there is Matthias Schoenearts, perhaps the only actor who can physically intimidate Hardy on screen in his portrayal of an unpredictable hood who won’t let sleeping dogs lie. Coming off great performances in Rust & Bone and Bullhead, Schoeneart is making his case as the “next great actor”.

Directing The Drop is Belgian filmmaker Michael R. Roskam. While many an English language debut had been unkind for many filmmakers (to say the least), Roskam perfectly nails the tone and rhythms of the great American crime story, and in turn delivers one where the stakes are high and the characters are memorable.

That The Drop is written by celebrated crime novelist Dennis Lehane absolutely helps with the transition. While Lehane’s expert touch on atmosphere and character are felt throughout his film adaptations (Gone Baby Gone & Mystic River among them), not celebrated enough is the spiritual depth and its religious complexities felt by his tortured characters, who struggle to abide to a Catholic morality within the dog-eat-dog would they inhabit.

The Drop superbly, hauntingly uses genre convention to show how mortal sin can weigh on the soul. In doing so it also portrays how the denial of a man’s true nature will not keep the Devil at bay, but only allow him to fester within, no matter your good intentions.