The Steven Knight directed thriller Locke is rapidly becoming one of the most intriguing releases to come out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival. With some strong word of mouth building in advance of its wide release, the film appears to be doing a lot with very little, featuring nothing more than one man in a car. But that one man is Tom Hardy, and he’s got a lot of problems.
Hardy stars as the titular character Ivan Locke, whose 85 minute car ride brings him a slew of personal and professional problems in the form of phone calls from various people in his life. The trailers so far have made it unclear as to what Locke’s problems are exactly, but at least the US trailer gives us slightly longer snippets of conversation between Locke and his family, friends, and co-workers. While Hardy might carry the film onscreen, those off-screen voices are probably going to be just as important, and feature such talents as Andrew Scott and Olivia Colman.
The US trailer is atmospheric and oddly tense, especially when one considers that Locke does not appear to be in any danger or dealing with anything abnormal. But perhaps that’s the power of it all – it’s the tension of everyday life, showing a man handling problems that seem small to others but are huge to him. Whatever Locke’s problems turn out to be, whatever mistakes he seems to have made, they are important and life-changing to him. If the trailers are any indication, this film will turn out to be an exciting ride without ever firing a shot.
You can watch the latest US trailer for Locke below and let us know what you think about the whole thing in the comments.
Locke cruises into theatres on April 25.