Ritesh Batra’s preceding endeavour, the BAFTA nominated The Lunchbox – had an indelible charm; an absorbing, gentle piece of cinema that was a complete delight to indulge in. His latest, while not quite as endearingly simplistic, still thrives in a similar capacity, and shares a common theme – again lingering over the notion of indirect communication, albeit one with a few more twists and turns.

Jim Broadbent plays Tony Webster, who owns a vintage camera shop in South London, and is counting down the days until his first grandchild is born, lending a hand to his heavily pregnant daughter Susie (Michelle Dockery). But then he receives a letter in the post to inform him that an item has been left to him in the will of an old flame’s mother, but it’s one he’s not currently allowed to get his hands on.

This ignites a host of old memories of his years at university (played in flashbacks by Billy Howle) when he first met Veronica (Freya Mavor), only to then develop a crush on her mother (Emily Mortimer). His new classmate Adrian Finn (Joe Alwyn) then came into the picture – which is where things get somewhat complex, as he recounts these memories to his ex-wife Margaret (Harriet Walter) as he contemplates catching up with Veronica in the present day (now played by Charlotte Rampling) to ask if she’ll give him this mystery item that he feels is rightfully his.

The Sense of an EndingStill with us? Good – it’s not quite as confusing as it sounds. Instead, it’s a narrative seamlessly told by Batra, adapting Julian Barnes’ novel well – blending flashbacks with the present day, heightening the suspense as we piece together this puzzle, ensuring we remain compelled throughout as we progress to the latter stages. Much of the film survives off the back of Broadbent’s performance, but also the character he’s been granted – for he’s far from being the happy-go-lucky, unblemished old bloke he may sound like. Instead he’s undoubtedly flawed, and all the more human for it – he makes, and certainly made, many mistakes, and he’s grumpy at the best of times and unaccommodating to strangers, and yet we remain on his side throughout, which is perhaps down to that mischievous glint in the eyes of the remarkably talented British actor.

But where this film truly comes to life is within the exploration of nostalgia, the prevalent theme to this title, and one that enriches the tale and injects that sense of poignancy to proceedings. Though, as already established, there are a myriad of characters and story-lines to indulge in, at its core is a tale that lingers over the sentiment that while time change, the person inside does not.

The Sense of an Ending is released on April 14th