The great thing about films is their ability to tell a story, however fantastical. But some push the realms of believability just a little too far. Take Last Passenger, a film about a train that travels fast on the British Rail network. With such an outrageous premise, how could it ever be taken seriously?

It's late, and surgeon Lewis (Dougray Scott) is on a commuter train to Tunbridge with his young son. The closer to their destination they get, the more passengers get off, until there are only six of them on board. Luckily for Lewis, one of them is the attractive Sarah (Kara Tointon), who gets rather flirty with him.

With his station approaching, they say their goodbyes, but they are a little premature since the train oddly doesn't stop. Although annoying they don't think that much of it, until Lewis thinks he sees a body on the tracks and the train skips another station. And another. And another...

Try as they might to contact the conductor and driver and disembark, the remaining passengers appear to be on a journey where their final destination is one that none of them bought a ticket to. And not just because it's Hastings (which, let’s face it, isn't that appealing out of season). With no way of stopping the train, the end of the line is just that for all on board.

The young lady was surprised at the gall of the tramp to approach her for cash on the train.

If you're thinking that this sounds like Speed On A Train, that's clearly the premise that debut British director and writer Omid Nooshin was going for. Unfortunately the plot device Nooshin comes up with for this speeding train is both absurd and unbelievable, which undermines his efforts to maintain a sense of drama throughout.

Apparently, the unseen culprit has a suicidal tendency, but instead of just jumping off a ledge, or - considering their train connection - jumping in front of a moving train, they decide the best way to end it all is to drive a train at top speed until they run out of track. Like you do. However, it must have been a spur of the moment decision since they were happy enough to let people on and off for a number of stops before closing the doors for the last time and disabling the emergency brake cord throughout all of the carriages.

What the director should have done was simply made it a ghost train and be done with it, as it would have been just as believable as the nonsense he concocted.

Also, the rolling stock and train livery they use appears to have come straight from the olden days. Perhaps the train is going so incredibly fast that it has managed to travel through time and has ended up back in the seventies – a premise which, again, would have been more believable than the one they went with.

Still, credit where it's due for the director's first film. His cast manage to make the most of a weak script, and David Schofield in particular embraces his part by chewing up the retro train scenery with thespian abandon.

And when it finally warms up, and it certainly takes its sweet time, the special effects punch well above their weight for such a modest indie film.

It's clear that Nooshin had a decent vision, but just struggled to translate it onto the screen. And as far as directing his talent concerned, he really needs to try harder next time and remember that less is more. But it's not bad for a first stab, and he may do better further down the line.