Going by the opening scene of Tyrannosaur, the debut directorial feature of actor Paddy Considine (Dead Man's Shoes, Hot Fuzz, The Bourne Ultimatum), in which its main character beats his beloved dog to death, it would be all too easy to dismiss it as yet another example of miserablist kitchen sink drama that British cinema so often produces. After Joseph (Peter Mullan) gets drunk and angry, he kicks his dog and breaks his ribs. It's devastating for Joseph, and after an outburst in a pub (one of many manifestations of his barely suppressed rage that, it is implied, has landed him in trouble before) he runs into a charity shop run by Hannah (Olivia Colman) and begins to cry when she offers to pray for him.