British intelligence is under the microscope in Black Bag. George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) is an elite operative at Britain’s closely guarded National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). He can’t stand liars. He seeks them out an exposes them. That has included his own father. Now there appears to be a mole in the ranks of the…
Passion, intellect, history and legacy explode on stage in the masterfully written, acted, directed and produced romantic, dramatic, thriller Berlin. Australian Tom (Lachlan Hamill) has just landed in the German capital, keen to get to know the real city, not the tourist offering. He’s directed to a small watering hole, where he meets and is…
Be careful what you wish for. That is one of the takeaways from the psychological thriller Companion. It is a decidedly awkward first meeting at the supermarket for Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid), but their connection is immediate. Iris falls hard for Josh and they become a couple. Sometime later, they take a…
So far over the top, but fun, Flight Risk is a guilty pleasure. It is all about carrying a government witness across hostile terrain to testify against a mob boss when everything that could possibly go wrong does. Madolyn Harris (Michelle Dockery) is a Deputy U.S. Marshal. She is tasked with escorting crooked, scared, chatterbox…
Subterfuge and tension abound in the compelling papal thriller Conclave. The Pope has died and cardinals have been summoned from around the world to elect his successor. The man charged with the responsibility of seeing the process through to finality is the College of Cardinals dean, Brit Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes). Of late, he has…
Hugh Grant was once the affable if slightly awkward star of romantic comedies like Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill. But since Guy Ritchie cast him against type in a couple of his gritty thrillers, Grant has carved out a niche for himself in playing villainous types. He was great as the main…
Jo Nesbo’s 2020 book The Kingdom was a violent story centred around anti-hero Roy Opgard and the criminal machinations of Roy and his brother Carl in the small Norwegian town of Os. That book was marketed as a stand-alone crime thriller. And to some extent the story was wrapped up, tragically as expected, by the…
A political firestorm is brewing as the Far Right and LP the Far Left clash in the incendiary new work from writer Van Badham and director Gary Abrahams. There is no shortage of satire in this political thriller, which is bombastic and loud and revolutionary and proud of it. Between them, Badham and Abrahams set…
The cutthroat razor is sharpened and ready for the kill in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Forty-five years on, the musical thriller set in 19th century England retains its bite. It is a tale of murder, vengeance, cannibalism and entrepreneurial spirit. Benjamin Barker has been framed and is exiled to a penal…
There is one way to compromise a dramatic tale of obsession gone horribly askew that features impressive staging. Get the sound mix wrong. Unfortunately, that was the case at the premiere of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The music totally overwhelmed the opening number and did so again during parts of Act II. So much so that…
