A true-crime thriller based on a notorious 2004 bank robbery in Belfast arrives with the promise of high-stakes drama but delivers a disappointingly muted experience. The film struggles to find a compelling tone, hampered by a hesitant directorial approach that leaves a potentially powerful story feeling curiously flat.
While the central performances are competent, a key casting decision raises questions. Eddie Marsan steps into the role of Richard Murray, a bank manager forced into compliance when his wife is taken hostage. Though Marsan commits to the accent, his inherently reserved screen presence feels at odds with the character’s high-pressure predicament. Éanna Hardwicke, as a security guard also coerced into the scheme, manages to inject more palpable energy into his scenes.
The plot follows the intricate, real-life plan where the manager and guard must secretly bundle millions in used currency as trash for collection. Yet, the criminals orchestrating the heist remain largely anonymous figures on the periphery, with one notable exception—a chillingly casual enforcer whose mundane acts of domestic violation in a hostage’s home create brief flashes of genuine menace.
Beneath the central caper lie richer, unexplored layers. The story lightly touches on the shadow of past conflicts and the economic anxieties of a changing Northern Ireland, including a subplot about impending bank layoffs. These elements, which could have added depth and local texture, are introduced only to be swiftly abandoned, leaving talented supporting actors with little to develop.
Ultimately, the production gives the impression of constraints, both financial and creative. The result is a work that handles extraordinary events in an unfortunately ordinary way, failing to convert a remarkable real-world premise into the gripping cinematic event it might have been.
