Locke

How is this so great?

'Locke' truly ought not to be as engrossing as it is. I didn't know anything about it (bar the lead) before watching, if at that point you told me the premise and how it plays out I would've guaranteed an utterly boring movie, at best. However, this 2013 release is actually quality.

Tom Hardy definitely reaches the upper echelons in any favourite actor discussions, so things with him in are always likely to be a hit with me; eh, well, ignoring 'The Drop' anyway. Hardy is excellent in this, to be able to convey so much within such restraints is very impressive. I watched 'Deserter' before this and noted his iffy French accent, here he has a shot at Welsh... and it's gwych. It somehow adds a dynamic to events onscreen.

I shouldn't be surprised at how grand the writing is here given Steven Knight is behind it, I either like or love everything I've seen of that guy's work elsewhere - 'Hummingbird', 'Peaky Blinders', 'Taboo' (really gonna need that season two, chaps...), 'A Christmas Carol'. The guy knows what he does, that's for sure. Oh, and the touch of having known names starring alongside Hardy via voice only is an inspired choice, too.

Driving. Birth. Football. Concrete. And yet somehow it's an outstanding picture. How about that?