Directed by Ciaran O’Connor. Starring Ruth Negga, Karl Shiels, Niall O’Brien, Jasmine Russel 18 cert, Cork Omniplex; Cineworld/ IMC Dún Laoghaire/Screen, Dublin; Galway Omniplex, 84 min

YET MORE proof that the immigrant (rather than the emigrant) experience remains an unavoidable theme in current Irish cinemas arrives with this promising, if somewhat messy, debut feature by Ciaran O’Connor.

Actually, O'Connor was way ahead of the game. Originally screened under the (ill-advised) title Capital Letters, Traffickedhas been slowly creeping its way towards cinemas for half a decade. Finally its postponed moment in the sun arrives.

Ruth Negga plays Taiwo a young African immigrant, who, moments after arriving in Dublin, flees her traffickers and makes for the nearest shadows. Keely (Karl Shiels), a largely harmless waster, picks her up and directs her towards a job as “a waitress” in the sleazier type of bar. As the pimps close in, Keely begins to develop a crush on the girl and plots to buy her back from her self-proclaimed owners.

It's an old story – indeed, there is a great deal of Neil Jordan's Mona Lisain Trafficked– and O'Connor doesn't quite locate a fresh angle. Taiwo is little more than a clichéd cipher, a hollow, pitiable shell, and Keely reminds us of a million hoods with hearts of gold. The least said about the cackling villains, the soonest mended.

Though the picture has its technical deficiencies, O'Connor does a good job of capturing action on the busy Dublin streets. That Traffickedremains watchable throughout is, however, largely down to its excellent leads.

Poignantly scuffed, like a surly teenager thrust prematurely into the crossfire, Karl Shiels confirms his status as one of our most convincing rough diamonds. Negga, whose career has progressed steadily since the film was shot, makes the most of a somewhat flimsy role.

If for nothing else, Traffickedis worth watching for its conspicuous shots of geezers smoking in pubs. Was it really made thatlong ago?