Harris Dickinson's feature directorial debut, "Urchin," introduces us from a distance to its subject in its opening shot. It's a gray morning and Mike (Frank Dillane) is lying on the pavement of a busy, dirty London street, roused by the unwelcome exhortations of a street preacher. Mike gathers himself, shushes the woman for waking him and then collects his belongings to begin a day of panhandling. He's not very good at it and is roundly ignored by people going about their lives.

Mike is someone who you see nearly every day, particularly if you live in a city. But do you really see him? "Urchin" asks you to train your focus on this one particular homeless man, a drug addict, for about an hour and a half and, at the very least, try to understand him and his struggle to get his life back on track. The movie, which Dickinson also wrote, takes pains to shy away from making any grand political statements, an approach that, at least for this particular story, might be the most effective way to ask its audience to consider a broken system and how it fails people like Mike.

Better known as an adventurous indie actor, Dickinson was most recently seen playing the intern making Nicole Kidman do some bad, bad things in "Babygirl" and will soon be seen as John Lennon in Sam Mendes' quartet of Beatles movies. It's worth noting that he has been actively involved with groups that help the homeless in his London neighborhood and that "Urchin" came from a desire to more fully understand the problem and the people enmeshed in poverty and addiction.

That hands-on involvement informs the movie's portrait of Mike, lending it an authenticity and an insight that makes it feel, at times, like a documentary. Dickinson is clearly a student of revered British filmmaker Ken Loach ("Kes," "The Wind That Shakes the Barley"), whose movies are grounded in social realism and the difficulties of everyday people. And judging from the surreal interludes he drops into "Urchin" from time to time, you can spot the influence of Jonathan Glazer too. So, yes, he has good taste, not to mention a good eye. And, seeing the deeply felt compassion coursing through the film, it would seem a good heart.

Mike can be funny and open. He's also selfish and a chronic liar. A few minutes into the movie, he gets into a brawl with another street addict (played by Dickinson) whom Mike, quite correctly, accuses of lifting his wallet. A well-meaning stranger (Okezie Morro) breaks up the fight, cools down Mike and offers to buy him some food. As they walk to the bagel shop, engaging in a thoughtful conversation, Mike punches him in the head, knocking him out cold and proceeds to steal his wallet and watch.

It's a shocking moment and a clear sign that "Urchin" has no intention of romanticizing Mike or actively eliciting our sympathies. Yet, Dillane ("Fear the Walking Dead") plays him with such conviction, showing how Mike's twitchy volatility masks deep insecurities, that we can't help but like the guy and root for him to beat the odds.

Most of "Urchin" shows him trying to do just that. Following a jail stint for assault and theft, Mike gets a probation officer, a room at a hostel and a cook job at a shabby hotel. He listens to self-help tapes and goes out with coworkers for karaoke, where he belts out Atomic Kitten's girl-group smash "Whole Again" without a trace of irony or self-consciousness. He's staying clean and projecting a quirky charm that endears him to others — initially, at least.

But Dillane conveys a restless anxiety underneath these scenes, an awareness of the tenuous nature of his support system. Mike dreams of starting a limousine company, though he doesn't display the slightest inclination to explore how he might make that happen. It just feels like something to tell people so they won't ask any probing questions about his future. A relationship with a breezy drifter living in a caravan (Megan Northam) begins promisingly, but leads to unintended, perhaps inevitable consequences. It's not a spoiler to say that "Urchin" is not "The Pursuit of Happyness."

Dickinson injects some puzzling, dreamy passages throughout "Urchin," suggesting dark moments from Mike's past or troubled psyche. These aren't necessary and the film would be fine without them. But Dickinson's first feature is so assured in every other regard that you can give him a pass for these interludes. "Urchin" establishes him as a filmmaker to watch: a storyteller willing to look at a thorny subject and admit that there are no easy answers.

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'URCHIN'

No MPA rating

Running time: 1:39

How to watch: In theaters Oct. 17

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