No escape from the crimes of the past

No deed, good or bad, goes unpunished in the excellent British drama “Boy A,” sensitively directed by John Crowley (“Intermission”) from Mark O’Rowe’s adaptation of Jonathan Trigell’s novel. This is an absorbing, finely nuanced morality tale about Eric Wilson (Andrew Garfield), a young man once anonymously dubbed “Boy A” by the press, who is released from juvenile prison 14 years after his involvement in an unspeakable childhood crime.

With the help of Terry (Peter Mullan), a committed, fatherly caseworker, the now 24-year-old Eric renames himself Jack Burridge, finds a home and job in blue-collar Manchester and, with great pains, reimmerses himself into the real world, keeping his past (which is revealed through judicious flashbacks) a buried secret. The kind, intensely shy Jack even strikes up a poignant romance with the forthright Michelle (Katie Lyons), an attractive and intuitive co-worker.

But when Jack winds up saving the life of a car accident victim, the media pounces and his cover slowly unravels in ways that, though not unexpected, prove heartbreaking.

While the cast is uniformly superb, Garfield (“Lions for Lambs”) deserves special mention for his deep, extraordinarily expressive performance. Hopefully, he will be remembered at this year’s Independent Spirit Awards.

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“Boy A.” MPAA rating: R for language, sexuality, some disturbing content and brief drug use. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes. At Landmark’s Nuart Theatre, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles, (310) 281-8223.