FBI informant Pete Koslow (Joel Kinnaman) is attempting to buy his freedom in exchange for providing information on a Polish mob boss when a drug deal goes wrong and a New York policeman is killed. With his boss livid, the FBI threatening to abandon him and the NYPD looking hard into the death of one of their own, his only option is to return to prison in an effort to finally provide the information needed to keep his family safe.

As convoluted and generic as that synopsis might sound The Informer is a really good, taught and tightly scripted crime thriller. It is also one where Joel Kinnaman gives probably his best film performance as a man trying to do the right thing in a dangerous world.

It helps that the film surrounds him with capable and engaging supporting actors. Rosamund Pike is his FBI handler, Clive Owen plays her shadowy boss, Common is the tough NYPD detective and Ana de Armas is his wife. Whilst all of them play crime film archetypes they all do so with a dedication that invests you in their characters and world.

It is the sort of film that could easily have fallen into run of the mill but thanks to the script, the tightly packed plot and the dedicated performances it is gripping and very enjoyable.