The finest British film of the decade

“We may be through with the past, but the past ain’t through with us.”

That quote from Magnolia fits perfectly with the message at the heart of Boy A.

The film, which has already received critical success after it premiered on British television last year, hits the Clinton Street Theater today, and forces us to confront the questions that some of us may not want to know the answers to.

What is evil? Can a despicable act ever be forgiven? If you found out one of your best friends brutally murdered a young girl long ago, how would you handle that information?

Based on a 2004 novel by Jonathan Trigell, Boy A examines these questions with a skill and subtleness rarely seen in modern films. Here is a movie that doesn’t hammer us over the head with superfluous details and forced emotions. It is an honest and often heart-wrenching tale of a young man who no longer wants to be himself. His attempts at personal rebirth are hindered, however, by a world that will not let him move on.

Jack Burridge, the film’s restless anti-hero, is a murderer. He and a friend were found guilty of this horrendous crime when they were just pre-teens and Burridge was forced to spend the rest of his youth in prison. He is now 24 and set out into the streets of Manchester.

He was released anonymously to protect his identity from the lynch-mob press and vigilantes who may want to avenge his childhood crimes.

The only one who knows Jack’s true identity is his parole contact, played with deftness by Peter Mullan, who aids him by becoming the father figure Jack truly needs.

Jack is set up with a job, quickly makes friends and finds a girlfriend (Katie Lyons) that loves him like no one ever has. They know he has a troubled past, but nothing specific. However, the truth refuses to stay a secret forever, and much of the drama comes from the pressure building in Jack as his former life begins to collide with his new one.

As the story unfolds we are pulled into Jack’s life and begin to care about him, much the same as his new friends. As the film slowly gives us details of his violent past, we must examine our own sympathies and decide if they are warranted.

Ultimately we do care for Jack, but like Ziggy Stardust says, “It ain’t easy.”

Much of the success of the film lies in the direction of John Crowley and the screenplay by playwright Mark O’Rowe. Under a different team the film could have turned into heavy-handed melodrama. Instead it is comfortable with letting the story unfold naturally.

Details are held and we learn about the characters, not by what they say, but what they do. “Show, not tell” is classic storytelling advice that is often ignored in favor of the brain-numbing, “bat to the head” approach of scriptwriting, where characters spew out dialogue that does nothing but push the narrative forward.

In Boy A, the dialogue feels authentic and well crafted at the same time. A rare feat.

The young and mostly unknown cast, featuring a career-making performance by Andrew Garfield as Jack, accomplishes much without ever overacting. A simple head nod or eye movement can say more than some lesser actors’ tendencies to wave their arms around or cringe to try and sell a line like they went to the Dennis Hopper School of Melodrama.

This is a film that grabs you from its first moments and keeps you fascinated for most of its running time. There are no easy answers here, if any at all. But like other difficult and accomplished movies, it’s not the answers that captivate us, but the questions. Boy A argues that sometimes, the questions are enough.

Boy A**** Clinton Street TheaterOct. 17-22, 7 p.m.$6, 21-plus