First-time writer-director Neil Maskell made his reputation (well, with me, at least) via his acting work with British indie film-maker Ben Wheatley and this 2022 debut certainly has some of the traits (dark offbeat humour and the threat of violence, essentially) of Wheatley's best work. The central premise here of the importance and potential jeopardy of whistle-blowers is, of course, increasingly topical and, via some intriguing cinematography (slo-mo, interesting angles, dynamic hand-held, etc.) and an unnerving sound design, Maskell builds tangible tension and dread.
The director also struck gold with his casting (attracted by his Wheatley work?) as we follow married couple Amit Shah's government IT guy, Ewan, and his wife Sura Dohnke's Belgian Silke, holed up in Silke's home country and joined by twin 'protectors' (supposedly hired by the newspaper buying the whistle-blowers' story), Tom Burke's softly spoken (a trait of the actor, of course), level-headed, Ewan, and Roger Evans' troubled, volatile Glynn.
It's undoubtedly a stylish, brooding affair in which the ('dystopian') uncertainty around what exactly the whistle-blowers know is (wisely) left unsaid, whilst their paranoia builds to an almost unbearable pitch - largely fuelled by the offputtingly semi-comic pair of 'protectors' and then brought into further focus by the arrival of Jenna Coleman's (in a near film-stealing cameo) foul-mouthed journalist, Flo. The main theme here of the seeming need to conform to the prevailing 'political doctrine' - whether in 'the West' or elsewhere - and not to 'blab' about anything untoward (as Burke's Ewan says at one point, 'I don't think anything') is not exactly original but is convincingly depicted by Maskell. Perhaps my only reservation is that I would have preferred the 'uncertainty' to have held until the final reel - as opposed to the more definitive denouement that Maskell chose.
In terms of comparators, aside from the Wheatley influence and the oft-quoted In Bruges, dark comedies abound these days, of course, particularly on TV along the lines of Guilt, Boat Story, Back to Life, I May Destroy You, etc. I even thought of a feature length episode of the marvellous Inside No. 9. Whatever, Maskell has shown enough promise here to warrant a 'follow' on his career.
