‘Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine.’

– Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), The Imitation Game 

The Imitation Game (2014)

The enigma machine plays one of the most fascinating parts of the second world war, as did the man who designed it. Cumberbatch plays Turing magnificently in this thrilling and well-made thriller.

 

The Hurt Locker (2008)

After one of the most compelling opening sequences of the 21st Century, The Hurt Locker goes onto be a tense and immensely well-shot film.

 

’71 (2014)

A solid and well-crafted thriller about the Troubles in ’70s Northern Ireland that is elevated by an excellent cast (Jack O’Connell, Sean Harris along with stars in the making Jack Lowden and Barry Keoghan).

 

End Of Watch (2012)

The war on drugs is really portrayed in this way, an intimate and gritty thriller that packs a real emotional punch. The film, centred on two LAPD partners (played by equally excellent Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña) gives a fresh look at the nature of life for police officers on the frontline.

 

Land Of Mine (2017)

Focusing on a little known part of the aftermath of WW2, a group of German prisoners of war who were forced to dig up millions of Nazi land mines with their bare hands, this drama is harrowing and truly suspenseful.