It's 1980s Dublin - the recession is biting, unemployment is rife, heroin is starting to flood the inner city, everything is a variation of grey and brown, and Kojak is on the telly.
Life is tough for 12-year-old Bobby O'Brien (impressive newcomer Cillian Sullivan). Stuck in the family's claustrophobic flat, he's caught in the crossfire between his troubled older brother Oisin and their quick-to-anger dad.
Watch: The trailer for Spilt Milk
Little Bobby's only outlet for his precocious imagination is his obsession with the lollipop-loving New York cop, so he sets up his own detective agency with his headstrong pal Nell (a firecracker performance from Naoise Kelly). It's all missing pocket money and nicked flower boxes until Bobby is faced with a far darker and all-too-serious case when Oisin goes missing.
Has it anything to do with local gangster Jim Kane? Is neighbourhood wide boy Paddy all that he seems? Why are his parents so keen to close down his investigation? There are clues everywhere and screenwriter Cara Loftus and first-time director Brian Durnin make sure to sprinkle proceedings with several McGuffins to inject pace and intrigue.
Danielle Galligan plays Bobby's mum Maura, a proud-but-private woman who is forced into action when her family are endangered, and Pom Boyd provides comic relief as the wise old gran as the film takes a dramatic turn from childhood hi-jinks into much darker territory in the third act.
Recently nominated for four IFTAs, Spilt Milk does a lot with very little and weaves serious issues into a charming - and then not-so-charming - child's eye view of a very adult world.
