There’s just something about a detective isn’t there? For a pretty niche job, it’s always provided a rich seam of inspiration for film-makers. While Chris Pond may not quite be cut from the same cloth as film noir’s finest, he’s a welcome addition regardless. And he has a hell of a moustache.

Played by Mike Wozniak (TV’s Man Down, Prevenge), Chris is on a stake-out when we join him in the titular cul-de-sac, trying to catch an alleged small-time insurance fraudster. Yes, these are the high stakes of PI Chris Pond’s world. But his work is interrupted by his hilariously annoying sister Lottie, on the face of it arriving to bring lunch but actually staging a one-woman intervention following Chris’s collapsed marriage.

The patter between the two is very funny, and captures the true-to-life banter between siblings which is often very quick to spill over into genuine irritation. But as their catch-up in Chris’s car progresses, something more serious and profound emerges, an issue soon brought into sharper focus when the subject of his stake-out (although “no-one actually calls it a stake-out”) reveals his true motivations.

Chris is played with a droll, downbeat charm by Wozniak, as a man who may well have principles, but above all is just trying to pay the bills. He’s ultimately a lonely guy who spends too much time snapping photos of petty criminals and checking his ex-wife’s Facebook, and not enough facing up to his own problems.

Writer-director Nick Flügge shoots creatively, despite the restrictiveness of the setting. As his short unfolds inside a small hatchback, different angles keep the flow of the film far more interesting and dynamic than it might have been.

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INFORMATION

CAST: Mike Wozniak, Lucy Pearman, Ben Frimstone

WRITER-DIRECTOR: Nick Flügge

SYNOPSIS: A private detective’s stake-out is ruined by his sister intent on fixing his life.