Story Overview

Layer Cake follows an unnamed English drug dealer, a polished and professional middleman in London’s criminal underworld whose long-planned early retirement is complicated by two final jobs. Ordered by crime boss Jimmy Price, the protagonist must locate the missing daughter of the powerful Eddie Temple and manage a high-stakes ecstasy deal that spirals into betrayal and violence. As alliances shift and double-crosses multiply, he navigates a dangerous “layer cake” of criminal hierarchy, testing his loyalties and survival instincts. Throughout, the dealer strives to maintain control and dignity amid the chaotic world of crime that he’s determined to leave behind, even as the stakes draw him deeper into peril.

With a sharp script by J. J. Connolly and a stylish directorial debut from Matthew Vaughn, the film blends gritty crime drama with tense thriller elements. Its atmospheric portrayal of the British drug trade and morally ambiguous characters immerses the audience in a world where trust is tenuous and every decision carries deadly consequences. The lead’s ambition to break free from the very world that made him, only to be entangled in its relentless complexities, creates a taut narrative that keeps viewers engrossed to the end.