Directed by Mikael Marcimain. Starring Pernilla August, David Dencik. Light House Cinema, 8.20pm ****

Iris and Sonja are two 14-year-olds who live in a borstal outside Stockholm. Both have a penchant for running away and boozy late nights. Enter Dagmar Glans (Pernilla August, wonderful), a shrewd, glamorous madam with an eye for damaged, easily manipulated girls.

Elsewhere, internal-security officials are troubled by the high-ranking nature of Dagmar's clientele. As a general election looms and politicians move to dispense with the age of consent, investigating officers are uncovering possible ulterior motives. Can Iris and Sonja ever escape a prostitution ring frequented by top government officials? Wallander director Mikael Marcimain transitions to the big screen with this complex thriller, inspired by a 1970s political scandal. Decades on, the film's revelations remain shocking: known johns included the then justice minister and (allegedly) two former prime ministers.

Call Girl puts familiar Scandinavian tropes to good use. At times the sheer number of characters and subplots can be intimidating for the non-Swede. But Marcimain maintains enough control to fashion an old-fashioned political potboiler with an appropriately retro aesthetic. DOP Hoyte van Hoytema (Let the Right One In, All the President's Men) provides the convincing period cinematography.

Never mind all the president's men: these, tragically, are all the minister's underage girls.