This Brit import spares no details in its grim depiction of how everything goes completely and horribly wrong when Vic (Eddie Marsan) and Danny (Martin Compston) kidnap hottie heiress Alice Creed (Gemma Arterton) in the hopes of snagging a sweet ransom and running off to someplace warm and sunny. There are twists and turns galore (and many of them completely unexpected) in his fierce and savvy three-character chamber drama, but it's director J. Blakeson's knack for keeping things tight and taut throughout that is the film's greatest and most impressionable asset, making for a sometimes unbearably intense experience. The acting is top-notch, too, with Arterton proving that she's a whole lot more than just another Bond Girl with her terrific performance as the seemingly helpless victim who uses her wits and wiles to turn the tables (and then some) on her abductors; Marsan is fantastic, too, creating yet another steely, scary character that's about half a crisis away from a complete psychotic breakdown. Crime doesn't pay (boy, doesn't it), but you should definitely run off with this little piece of cinematic gold.
New On Netflix: The Disappearance of Alice Creed
