Official Secrets – effective but workmanlike spy story

Gavin Hood, now perhaps forgiven for the superhero travesty that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine, seems to be carving out a place as a director of films about the corruption deep within government institutions. He has followed his gripping drone thriller, Eye in the Sky, with the engaging but sporadically run-of-the-mill Official Secrets, this time based on the true story of British GCHQ translator-turned-whistleblower Katharine Gun.

Keira Knightley – reminding us that she can be one heck of a compelling lead – plays Gun, an intelligence worker issued with a secret memo detailing a UK/US plan to blackmail UN workers in favour of supporting the 2003 Iraq war; her life is turned upside down when she decides to leak the document and is accused of treason. As Gun, Knightley delivers a commanding and appropriately no-nonsense turn, whilst Matt Smith, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Tamsin Grieg, and Rhys Ifans round out the cast as an array of journalists, professionals, and government workers set to help or hinder her cause. With so many characters, some do occasionally get lost in the fray, though nobody here could be accused of phoning it in – everyone appears to understand importance of telling this story and they do their best to inject every line with the appropriate amount of gravitas.

Official Secrets unfolds, then, as a blend of ’70s political thriller and Spotlight-esque journalism drama, though there is admittedly something workmanlike – something slightly “television movie” – about this film when compared to Hood’s previous efforts. Set for the most part in dimly-lit offices that will have you wondering why somebody doesn’t just turn on a light, and hinging on a plot that’s spurred by passing paperwork and floppy discs, there’s an occasional sense of overindulging the material in too much production design – especially as Hood relies on his musical score to increase dramatic tension in scenes that might otherwise lack the stuff. For the most part, though, the director keeps us invested thanks to a tight, pacy script and some interesting diversions, like the one that shows us how a simple spelling mistake might result in a full-blown international crisis.

Undoubtably this feels like a necessary film for these muddled times, though given the deceit spewing from government institutions on a daily basis, its conceit doesn’t seem shocking or surprising as much as it seems outright prescient (“Just because you’re the PM doesn’t mean you can make up your own facts” might be the film’s most telling line). Still, Hood’s message is loud and clear: people like Gun should be applauded when they put everything on the line to expose that increasingly scarce thing we call the truth.

★★★☆☆

By: Tom Barnard

Get Official Secrets showtimes in London.