I Came By

Armed with cans of spray paint and loads of pent-up rage, the lead character in I Came By targets London’s wealthy elite and politically corrupt in a vigilante graffiti spree.

He might also have artistically redecorated the screenplay for this mildly clever psychological thriller that feeds off his intensity but lacks his ingenuity.

Watching two top British actors going mano-a-mano while playing against type provides some intrigue, although the film’s unsettling atmosphere yields little more than a slick potboiler that muddles its social commentary.

In his early twenties yet lacking direction in his life, Toby (George MacKay) has managed to mostly elude authorities with his best friend, Jay (Percelle Ascott), as they break into the homes of political adversaries, leaving the titular message on the wall.

With a baby on the way, Jay wants to settle down and stay out of trouble, which strains their relationship. So Toby is forced to go solo when he strikes the mansion of a privileged former judge (Hugh Bonneville) with some alarming secrets. Let’s just say he repurposes his ceramicist wife’s basement kiln in a disturbing way.

At any rate, Toby’s rebellion has caused a rift with his mother (Kelly Macdonald), a youth counselor who senses a desperate chance to reconnect when Toby becomes trapped by the judge, who has plenty of friends in the local police department. Her effort to track down Toby comes at great risk.

The film benefits from another captivating portrayal by the chameleonic MacKay (1917), who conveys Toby’s simmering hostility as more than simply millennial angst run amok, but rather a byproduct of perceived sociopolitical inequities and half-cocked conspiracy theories.

The screenplay co-written by director Babak Anvari (Under the Shadow) unspools its biggest twist too early, causing the suspense to dwindle as the perspective shifts. While sufficiently creepy and atmospheric, the film substitutes narrative complexity with moral ambivalence, in the process trivializing its broader scrutiny of socioeconomic class and the British criminal justice system.

Sporadically chilling yet structurally awkward, I Came By features a stylish visual canvas and a committed performance by Bonneville (“Downton Abbey”). Still, amid a maze of cloudy motives, misdirection, and melodramatic contrivances, the film strains to be provocative.

Rated R, 110 minutes.