Gone Baby Gone

Gone Baby Gone was originally intended to debut at last year's London film festival, but with the Madeleine McCann saga continuing to make headlines, this child kidnapping tale was held back until the powder-keg atmosphere had dissipated Photograph: PR

The delay may have done the film no harm at all. Six months ago there might have been the odd whisper over Affleck's choice of brother Casey for the central role of private detective Patrick Kenzie. That was before the younger Affleck put Brad Pitt in the shade with his critically-acclaimed turn as Robert Ford in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Photograph: PR

Kenzie is hired, along with his partner and girlfriend Angie, played by Michelle Monaghan, to investigate the case of a missing Boston toddler, Amanda McCready. At first the pair refuse to take on the case, citing lack of experience, but they are told that their knowledge of the tough Dorchester neighbourhood where the child lived makes them the perfect candidates Photograph: PR

Captain Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman) is leading the police investigation. It emerges that he suffered the loss of his own child in similar circumstances a few years previously Photograph: PR

Amy Ryan received an Oscar-nomination for her portrayal of Helene McCready, mother of four-year-old Amanda. The two detectives' time with her will lead them to question whether she was a fit parent to the young girl Photograph: PR

Four-time Oscar nominee Ed Harris plays detective Remy Bressant, one of the officers leading the hunt for Amanda Photograph: PR

Bressant and colleague Nick Pole are charged with supporting Kenzie's efforts to find Amanda. But all is not as it first appears ... Photograph: PR