Locke is a movie starring Tom Hardy and… well that’s it. There are a variety of voice actors that play people he speaks to on the phone but this is a movie about a fellow named Locke and he is completely the only person on screen for the length of the movie. It is also a movie that stays with you for a very long time after you see it because Tom Hardy’s performance is so deeply affecting that you can’t easily forget it. This is very important when you consider that this is considered a “small” story by Hollywood stories, Locke leaves work, makes a fateful decision, turning right instead of left because he needs to do something and the implications run deep into every aspect of his life: home, work, everything.

And it all takes place in conversations between him and others on the car phone as he drives. And it is compelling, thoughtful, brilliantly crafted, and suspenseful; I could not tear my eyes away from it. Tom Hardy does so much with just his eyes as he tries to keep his world together. I don’t know what else to say about it, I don’t want to spoil the story, it is just really good.

The film was, I’m told, was shot in single takes, twice per night while Hardy was driving the car or being towed, the calls live with the other actors, on the phone, calling him from a hotel room and performing out their scenes. Just go watch it.

It’s a great film.

-all photos via IMDb.com.