Review of Locke (2014) by Morgan E — 12 Jan 2015

A film shot almost entirely in an SUV, the focus pointed at one man while he drives down the motorway and calls people via Bluetooth may not sound enough to hold audiences captive, but from the moment Ivan Locke (Tom Hardy) starts the ignition we're in for an electrifying drive. And who would complain about being alone with Tom Hardy for 85 minutes anyway?

Ivan, a construction foreman, has made a choice, a choice which both threatens to ruin his family and work life in one night, one drive. Ivan Locke, like his name, the robust and smart SUV he drives, and his deep and reassuring Welsh tone all suggest is solid. He's a man who's had has his life locked down until this night, when both his family and work life hang in the balance of a series of increasingly important and tense phone calls.

Tomorrow morning, 355 metric tons of concrete and 218 trucks will be descending on Ivan's building site, but he's not going to be there. He's not going to be at home watching the big football match that night with his wife and kids either. Instead, he's driving 90mph from Birmingham to London to be with a woman (Bethan), whom he slept with one night after a couple bottles of wine because he's made a promise to be with her for the birth of his son.

Locke is a truly refreshing and original film; its real achievement is that it delivers a captivating story set almost entirely in real time. There may not be any on-screen action - apart form the occasional outburst from Ivan - but the characters' bold personalities bring them to life in your imagination. There are brilliant performances from Olivia Colman who plays Bethan, terrified and lonely in labor, and Andrew Scott who plays Donal, a concrete farmer out of his depth, whom Ivan entrusts to oversee the success of the concrete pour in his absence.

As Ivan speeds away, tensions gradually increase over the phone as he guides Donal, overcoming one unforeseen obstacle after the next, to ensure everything is ready on site tomorrow, and he continually reassures Bethan that everything will be ok and that he is on his way. The tension really kicks in though when he makes the most important call: the one to his wife to explain to her why he won't be home later.

Tom Hardy delivers a solid performance, bringing to life Steven Knight's sublime script. Apart from the slick cinematography and a few flashing lights merging with the darkness of the motorway, it's Hardy's charisma that locks you in and drives Locke. Thoroughly deserved wins for best actor and best screenwriter in the British Independent Film Awards 2013 and European Film Awards 2014.