This 91%-Rated Thriller From 'Peaky Blinders' Creator Is Tom Hardy's Most Challenging Work

Some movies test an actor's mettle not through physical exertion or elaborate makeup, but through talent alone and the ability to captivate an audience.

Steven Knight's drama Locke was just that kind of test for Tom Hardy. At that point, Hardy had yet to become a global star, but he took on an incredible creative challenge: playing a single character stuck in a car for an hour and a half.

What Is 'Locke' About?

The action unfolds in real time over the course of one night. Ivan Locke is a devoted family man and a successful foreman who oversees a large construction project. He has a wife and two kids, and has seemingly everything he could dream of.

But a phone call during his night shift turns Locke's life upside down. The woman he had a brief affair with six months earlier announces that she is going into premature labor and needs him.

Locke then makes an irrational decision: he leaves the construction site, his wife and children waiting for him for dinner, and races to another city.

'Locke' Relies Entirely on Tom Hardy's Dazzling Performance

Locke is a remarkable feat of acting – Tom Hardy spends the entire film in the driver's seat, yet he still manages to keep the audience engaged.

Each phone call brings a new level of stress, and Hardy conveys every nuance of his character's emotions, from suppressed anger and despair to attempts to maintain control and complete mental exhaustion.

We see Locke's face change in a matter of seconds: it reflects fear, guilt, doubt, and the realization that his life is crumbling.

The movie features the voices of other well-known actors: Olivia Colman, Andrew Scott, and a young Tom Holland. However, their faces never appear onscreen – this decision emphasizes Locke's isolation and loneliness as he is trapped in a confined space.

With 'Locke', Steven Knight Proves Himself to Be a Master of Both Directing & Playwriting

Steven Knight, best known as the creator of Peaky Blinders, proves himself to be not only a talented screenwriter, but also a skilled director – he understands how to hold the viewer's attention in a minimalist narrative.

Knight plays fair with the audience by eschewing flashbacks and editing tricks. Everything we learn about Locke's life and past comes from his phone conversations alone.

This technique works brilliantly – the viewer builds a picture of what's happening and invents details about Locke's wife, boss, and lover, who they'll never meet.

Knight uses visual language sparingly, yet, every detail in the frame, the lights of a nighttime highway, a reflection in the rearview mirror, and the pauses between phone calls. creates a crushing atmosphere of loneliness and inevitability.

Locke begins as a drama about concrete foundations in a factory, but gradually turns into a tragedy about a man torn between two obligations who realizes that no matter what he chooses, he will lose everything.

What Did Critics & Viewers Think of 'Locke'?

• Locke has 91% from critics and 72% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.

• On IMDb, the movie has a score of 7.1/10.

• On Letterboxd, Locke scored 3.6/5.0.

Where to Watch 'Locke'?

Locke is available to buy or rent on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video.