Director: Daniel Espinosa
Running Time: 137 mins
Certificate: 15
Release Date: August 24th 2015 (UK)
When it was first announced Child 44 seemed like a good bet – based on a hit book, directed by Daniel Espinosa (Safe House, Easy Money) and a really good cast. However, when it arrived in cinemas it was met with bad reviews and made hardly any money at the box office.
I’m not entirely sure where all the animosity came from though, as while it has quite a few problems it’s certainly tense, uneasy and very watchable.
Set in post-World War II Soviet Russia, Tom Hardy is Leo Demidov, an investigator for the feared MGB who roots out traitors for Stalin. The organisation is judge, jury and executioner – and it extracts ways to find guilt in everyone they arrest. It’s an era of massive paranoia and one where deviating from the official line on something can be a death sentence. [Read more…]