The film bears striking similarities to Hodges' directorial debut, the classic 1970 crime drama Get Carter.

Both films feature men who return to their former hometowns to investigate the death of a brother who has died under mysterious circumstances.

Davey Graham arrives at an upper-class party to sell drugs to a woman named Stella.

Outside the party, three men are waiting for Davey in a black Range Rover, including a car dealer named Boad.

At dawn, Davey emerges from the garage and stumbles home, where he draws a bath for himself and gets in fully clothed.

After he is sacked from his job for having no papers, he heads to the sea to take a ferry out of England when he sees Davey in the terminal.

His return to London stirs up the anxiety of crime boss Frank Turner, who sends word to Will that he should leave town after he buries his brother.

The coroner explains that it was a result of the anal stimulation, surmising that Davey probably killed himself over the shame he felt after involuntarily ejaculating.

As Will listens to the psychologist explain the mindset of the rapist and the mental damage of a rape victim, he takes his first drink in three years.

The hostess remembers seeing the man make a phone call as Davey left and she tracks down his identity.

Helen is shown sitting on the staircase in her flat, arms crossed, waiting with Turner's hitman for Will to arrive.

The website's critics consensus states, "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead's spare performances and slick style are undermined by a lack of cohesive story, yielding a neatly packaged noir with little substance beneath its polished surface.

"[6] However, Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, writing that "there is a tangible pleasure in following enigmatic characters through the shadows of their lives; deprived for a time of plot, given characters who are not clearly labeled and assigned moral categories, we're allowed to make judgments based on their manner and speech.