Here’s a blast of energy from Wanly Florexile, with a film based on his online TV series depicting life on the streets in New York, a portrait of mainly black characters. It’s a blunt earnest movie, energetic and modern; in fact, it might as well come with a new age rating – U25, unsuitable for those over 25. There are echoes of The Wire, but I’m not sure that Florexile wants to say anything too grand or high-minded about American society. He’s made a film for people to see their lives reflected in, jamming the camera up-close to the faces of his characters – edgy, unpredictable and unromantic. How good the film is depends on who’s on screen: the acting yo-yos, between thrillingly alive and stiff/awkward.

Florexile plays Lee, a guy who moves back to New York from Florida to solve the murder of his childhood friend Robert, killed on the street five years ago when they were teenagers. Robert had been slinging drugs for kingpin Mercy (Rodney Yates), now a music promoter and owner of the classily named club No Money No Honey. Lee takes a risk, showing up at Mercy’s apartment. The ex-dealer shrugs – Robert who? Five years is a lifetime and a lot of deaths in the past. Another line of enquiry is Robert’s relationship with an American-Pakistani girl Fatima (Sindia Duverge) now in a psychiatric unit; Lee’s visit to her is a film low, a flat and thoughtless scene.

Love Is Blind bumps along with a scattergun approach, attention hopping from scene to scene, character to character – some of whom have little to do with the plot. Frustratingly, the film feels conceived as a sequel to the TV series, so unless you arrive informed and emotionally invested, it can feel less than rewarding.