ACTION; 1hr 39min
STARRING: Jack O’Connell
The chase: O'Connell
Unbroken powerhouse O’Connell is back in uniform as British soldier Private Gary Hook, fresh out of training and deep in grave danger in the quagmire of the 1971 Belfast Troubles, whose Protestant Loyalists and Catholic Nationalists are tearing each other apart. When his unit’s first deployment degenerates into a mob scene and they scramble to get the hell out of Dodge, Gary is mistakenly left stranded. Now every man in all camps is a potential enemy. Hunted, rat-like, through blighted, nightmarish streets, injured from a bomb blast and constantly afraid, Gary is fighting another sort of war entirely as he scrambles with the instinct and stealth of an exile to live through what seems an eternal night.
Shot handheld to an ominous, pulsing soundtrack, director Yann Demange’s debut feature is ugly, scary and urgent. This is yet another bloodbath no individual can ultimately win: not the likes of Gary Hook, who are caught up and lost in it, not the corrupt players working its dirty angles, and certainly not the men, women and children whose losing battle it really is.
