Photographer Tom Carver (Aidan Gillen, WAKEWOOD) has seemingly gone out of his way to barely exist, living in a rundown hovel near the council estates, drinking himself to sleep, prematurely reconciling himself to the notion that his profession does not pay (with an offer to exhibit some of his photographs falling into his lap out of the blue), and shunning all but the most low-maintenance friendships and relationships: his live-in lover Christina (Elodie Yung, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO) has an entirely separate social life and he only opens up to his ex-wife Rachel (Amanda Mealing, FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL) out of her need to mother him. While shooting school pictures, he makes the acquaintance of young Jimmy (Joseph Duffy) whose older brother was murdered the week before in a gang fight. He tries to encourage the boy's interest in photography and soon finds himself under threat from a gang of local boys (who either suspect his motives are impure or may themselves have had something to do with the death of the boy's brother). When their intimidation escalates from "pranks" like heavy-breathing phone calls at all hours, pushing shit through his letterbox, and leaving a mutilated pet on his doorstep to physical assaults on himself and loved ones, Tom is slow in reporting things to the police who can do nothing since he cannot identify the attackers. Tom does of course know who his attackers are, but it is the urgings of reporter friend Ed (Jonathan Slinger, A KNIGHT'S TALE) - implored by Jimmy's mother (Kate Ashfield , SHAUN OF THE DEAD) to find her elder son's killer - that may push him over the edge.

Although billed as a gritty thriller, it is only half-way through the meandering STILL that it becomes that the film is about the mental deterioration of its protagonist; and the still-ness of the title is the psychological inertia of its main character as others manage to move on, if only by small degrees that seem monumental next to him. Gillen makes his character a compelling watch (especially in his scenes with Mealing), but the things that happen outside of his character's purview merely pad out the running time by fleshing out characters in ways that have little bearing on the relations with the protagonist (even though much more of that seems to have hit the cutting room floor along with entire characters going by the deleted scenes selection). Indeed, one gets the impression that he was blocked long before his son's death), and that the seeming detour into vigilantism is a shortcut means to an end. This understanding does not enhance ones appreciation of what has gone on before or how the film proceeds (even after Christina's assault, the characters are all too passive to be "past the point of no return" as the American tagline goes), and viewers may find it a slog despite interesting performances and potentially interesting ideas.