The Shadow Line is a heavily stylised, dark and intricately plotted thriller from writer and director Hugo Blick. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Detective Inspector Jonah Gabriel. A dogged cop with a bullet lodged in his brain but maybe with a dark past. Christopher Eccleston is criminal Joseph Bede. He has built up a fruit and flower supply business that acts as a front for drug smuggling but he wants to go straight. Gabriel comes into Bede's radar after the death of Harvey Wrattan, a drug importer. After his death, many disparate people are fighting to take over Wrattan's empire. There is an heightened brooding atmosphere in Blick's drama. It also has a absurdly black comic touch to it even in the violence. There are many side characters that are involved in the story such as Bede's wife suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer. Two actors who make a lasting impression are Stephen Rea and Anthony Sher.