This film is part of Rentals

Locke
Tom Hardy commands the screen as the only star of Steven Knight’s bold, mesmeric drama, which is set entirely in car and unfolds in real time.
Drama 2013 85 mins
Director: Steven Knight
Overview
Tom Hardy is superb in this bold and mesmeric drama from Steven Knight (writer of Eastern Promises, Dirty Pretty Things), commanding the screen as the titular character whose personal crisis unfolds in real-time during a chastening car journey.
Charged with the responsibility of ensuring the sound foundations of huge architectural constructions, structural engineer Ivan Locke (Tom Hardy) is as solid as the concrete he pours for living. For ten years he has built a reputation as a highly respected professional and as a fiercely loved father and husband. On the eve of a career-crowning moment we follow Ivan’s journey driving from Wales to London, and see how one mistake has caused his hitherto firmly focused and controlled life to solely and completely fall apart. Both Ivan’s brute determination to regain control over his life and his stubborn refusal to engage fully with the emotional reality, and combined perfectly in Hardy’s taut performance. Steven Knight’s direction, too, is as resolutely Spartan as his central character. Shot in its entirety over eight days, and never leaving the interior of his car, Knight’s film nevertheless succeeds in creating a gripping atmosphere of tightly wound tension.

Accessibility
Related
Drama

White Colour Black White Colour Black
Drama 2016 83 mins Director: Joseph A. Adesunloye
A young mixed heritage man confronts the psychological complexities of his identity in this essential, truly cinematic discovery for anyone interested in Black British cinema.

In the Mood for Love In the Mood for Love
Drama 2000 100 mins Director: Wong Kar Wai
Wong’s masterpiece is a heartbreaking story of illicit love that pulses with the ache and agony of repressed desire.

Happy Together Happy Together
Drama 1997 98 mins Director: Wong Kar Wai
A trip to Buenos Aires reveals the dark side of love as a gay couple (Leung and Cheung) struggle with jealousy, co-dependency and possessiveness as their turbulent relationship falls apart.

Chungking Express Chungking Express
Drama 1994 103 mins Director: Wong Kar Wai
Shot off-the-cuff in 23 days, this bright and breezy comedy was Wong’s international breakthrough hit, and it’s not hard to see why.

Fallen Angels Fallen Angels
Drama 1995 99 mins Director: Wong Kar Wai
Stylish drama laced with quirky humour that glimmers with the neon magic of Hong Kong at night.

Days of Being Wild Days of Being Wild
Drama 1990 95 mins Director: Wong Kar Wai
Leslie Cheung gives a magnificent performance as a rakish playboy in the 1960s searching for identity while callously breaking hearts.
Thriller

Elle Elle
Drama 2015 131 mins Director: Paul Verhoeven
Isabelle Huppert gives an unforgettable performance in Paul Verhoeven’s provocative thriller about one woman’s response to a violent attack.

The Wages of Fear The Wages of Fear
Crime 1953 153 mins Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Henri-Georges Clouzot's classic, nail-biting suspense thriller follows four desperate men as they transport a volatile cargo of nitro-glycerine to a massive oil well fire.

You Were Never Really Here You Were Never Really Here
Thriller 2017 90 mins Director: Lynne Ramsay
Lynne Ramsay journeys with Joaquin Phoenix into the mind of an ex-soldier gun-for-hire whose own demons are as brutal as the actions of his adversaries.

Iceman Iceman
Thriller 2017 96 mins Director: Felix Randau
Revenge is served ice-cold in this visceral thriller, in which a neolithic hunter seeks vengeance against those who decimated his tribe.

Revenge Revenge
Thriller 2017 108 mins Director: Coralie Fargeat
Coralie Fargeat's gloriously bloody tale of one woman's retribution; a razor-sharp feminist subversion of the revenge-thriller.

Snowpiercer Snowpiercer
Science Fiction 2013 126 mins Director: Bong Joon-ho
After a global catastrophe launches the world into a new ice age, the last of humanity are trapped on a high-speed train that circles the globe infinitely.
Featuring Olivia Colman

Tyrannosaur Tyrannosaur
Drama 2010 92 mins Director: Paddy Considine
Paddy Considine’s powerful feature debut, featuring astonishingly strong performances from Olivia Colman and Peter Mullan.

Cuban Fury Cuban Fury
Comedy 2013 98 mins Director: James Griffiths
Nick Frost plays the one-time teen salsa champion, lured back to the dancefloor in an attempt to win the girl of his dreams.

The Lobster The Lobster
Science Fiction 2015 118 mins Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Colin Farrell, Ben Whishaw and Rachel Weisz star in this bleakly hilarious dystopian drama from Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth).

London Road London Road
Musical 2014 92 mins Director: Rufus Norris
Daring, startling and wholly original: a musical based on the infamous Ipswich murders of 2006, adapted by National Theatre director Rufus Norris.

The Iron Lady The Iron Lady
Drama 2011 105 mins Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Meryl Streep delivers an extraordinary performance as Margaret Thatcher in a provocative portrait.

Grow Your Own Grow Your Own
Comedy 2007 97 mins Director: Richard Laxton
A group of Merseyside gardeners take umbrage to the arrival of some refugees, but they find common cause to resist a devious corporate takeover.
Featuring Ruth Wilson

The Little Stranger The Little Stranger
Thriller 2018 111 mins Director: Lenny Abrahamson
Lenny Abrahamson (Room, Frank) directs this Gothic mystery, with Domhnall Gleeson as a doctor helping the heir of a haunted stately home (Ruth Wilson).

Dark River Dark River
Drama 2016 89 mins Director: Clio Barnard
Clio Barnard follows The Selfish Giant and The Arbor with this searing and eloquent Yorkshire-set drama exploring the fragility of familial relationships.
New

White Colour Black White Colour Black
Drama 2016 83 mins Director: Joseph A. Adesunloye
A young mixed heritage man confronts the psychological complexities of his identity in this essential, truly cinematic discovery for anyone interested in Black British cinema.

IWOW: I Walk on Water IWOW: I Walk on Water
Documentary 2020 199 mins Director: Khalik Allah
The monumental new diary film from New York-based director and photographer Khalik Allah.

Synchronic Synchronic
Science Fiction 2019 102 mins Director: Justin Benson
Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan star as a pair of New Orleans paramedics who encounter a series of bizarre deaths linked to a new designer drug with otherworldly effects.

Pride & Protest Pride & Protest
Documentary 2020 90 mins Director: Blaise Singh
The modern face of protest is the focus of this timely and necessary documentary.

In the Mood for Love In the Mood for Love
Drama 2000 100 mins Director: Wong Kar Wai
Wong’s masterpiece is a heartbreaking story of illicit love that pulses with the ache and agony of repressed desire.

Happy Together Happy Together
Drama 1997 98 mins Director: Wong Kar Wai
A trip to Buenos Aires reveals the dark side of love as a gay couple (Leung and Cheung) struggle with jealousy, co-dependency and possessiveness as their turbulent relationship falls apart.