The main reason to watch the US TV drama Billions was to enjoy the interaction between its two main leads Bobby “Axe” Axelrod played by Damien Lewis, and Chuck Roades as portrayed by Paul Giamatti.

They were ably supported further down the line of their seven season run, in particular by Asia Kate Dillon who played Taylor Mason and Eva Victor who played Rian.

This sees Victor very much on their own starring and writing in their directorial debut.

Agnes (Victor) is having her best friend Lydie (Naomi Ackie) visit her. They both studied at Fairpoint College, where Agnes now works as a part-time professor.

The pair are close, with Lydie there for Agnes during a traumatic event in her life, which in truth, she hasn’t gotten over yet. But what did happen to Agnes, and how did she cope with everything at the time, and subsequently since then?

Victor’s debut certainly has its moments, but possibly not quite enough of them.

The character they play is on the quirky side, and has some pleasing interactions with other characters that come in and out of the film, such as best friend Lydie, not that great a friend Natasha (Kelly McCormack), neighbour Gavin (Lucas Hedges) and sandwich shop owner Pete (John Carroll Lynch).

Where the film comes somewhat unstuck is in the crime that takes place against Rian. Although it’s shown in a creatively restrained fashion, her reaction to it is difficult to comprehend; she’s happy enough to report it to the college, as it involves a member of the faculty, but refuses to report it to the police. You would think that if she had the courage to report it to people she knows within the college, she could do the same by reporting it to the police. It may sound like a small point, but it has a knock on effect as to how she responds to it throughout the rest of the film, and how audiences may empathise with her – or not.

The episodic nature of the film is certainly interesting, split into years, but only focusing on one or two events within that year.

But perhaps Victor could have shown more restraint; they appear in virtually every scene, and it comes across as a tad self-indulgent, and their writing skills struggle to validate the need for that. It’s a fine line between being confident and cocky, and Victor finds themselves in the latter territory more often than not. Especially when you consider there were a number of characters worth exploring further, none more so than Natasha, played by McCormack, who positively steals every scene she appears in.

Still it’s a rookie mistake, and one that they will hopefully learn from.

The script may well be uneven, and Agnes doesn’t feel fully realised despite the hefty amount of screen time she has, but there are a number of glimpses of real talent in this debut that make it worthwhile.