Ben Whishaw is wild and wired playing an airport worker who snaps and goes on a frenzied crime spree across London in Aneil Karia’s electric debut.
Joseph (Whishaw) lives a mundane existence. His job is barely more exciting – patting down travellers if they set off an alert in a metal detector as they pass through an airport. But within the anodyne landscape of this world, something snaps in Joseph and his presence shifts from invisibility to a raging, uncontrollable force. But this jolt is less a momentary act than the lighting of a fuse that continues to burn as Joseph’s criminal acts become increasingly outrageous and his behaviour wild. Karia, who previously worked on Top Boy proves dynamic in channelling Rita Kalnejais and Rupert Jones’ screenplay – based on his earlier short – and Whishaw’s extraordinary performance. The actor has long proven himself one of our most capable screen performers, whether it’s the grieving lover in Lilting or as an affable Q in the recent spate of Bond films. But here he adds a new feather to his hat, echoing the angst-ridden mania of Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle.
