Locke follows a man's car ride on the way to London to be there at the time of his soon-to-be child's birth. It's a very simplistic narrative, and incredibly easy to describe without spoiling anything major; although there are no massive twists, and there is really only one actor present in the entire film: Tom hardy.
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There will be spoilers from here on.
**Locke displays more than a man's car ride on the way to a child's birth, however, and it's a narrative that is extremely well-executed. The viewer quite literally watches a man breakdown within the span of 85 minutes as we discover the truth behind this child's birth, and his not-so-faithful ways. We see a man choose to finally do the right thing, and come to terms with his actions; he's been unfaithful, and that has resulted in a child with another woman, but he's proving to himself that he is going to be there for the child. It's a nice touch to a negative outcome, given his father was never there for him, and he's not going to follow his footsteps.
He's refusing to run from his mistakes, and finally tells his wife that he has quite literally fucked up, but wants to do what he feels is best for him, this woman that is now having his child, and the child. Given Tom Hardy is the only actor to be visibly present in the film, its narrative is unravelled through a series of phone calls as he drives. We see him relatively calm and collected, and slowly break under the stress as he questions his past, and his future.
Amidst the family issue, he's handling the miscalculations of his colleagues in construction; a large amount of cement is to be poured following day. He has to supervise the pouring to ensure it is successful, this results in thirty-six total phone calls throughout the drive with his boss and colleagues.
Tom Hardy's performance is excellent. Throughout the various phone calls, he's having pretend conversations with his father, who he imagines is sitting the backseat. He despises his father, and is constantly telling himself that he will do everything he can to be there for the child and mother, no matter how much he wants to run from them. It's such a simple film, and is yet another one of production studio A24's accolades as a truly unique narrative and direction in filmmaking.
