Susanne Loggie

Unfortunately this film is worth watching for all the wrong reasons apart from the always magnificent Idris Elba. I am an avid fan of the Luther series but this film bears no resemblance to the well crafted, suspenseful and powerfully performed episodes of the series. Having read the accurate and very amusing review by Steven Waite, I cannot really enlarge further on the numerous unbelievable and implausible moments in the plot. Even with some additional editing I doubt whether they could have made a better job of it. It is more than a shame that the horrendous crimes that the film was trying to portray were depicted in such a quasi James Bond fashion. I can imagine this subject handled skilfully in a Scandi Noir series. Perhaps that’s why the frozen tundra ( a short trip from Dover) was thrown into the mix. I don’t know who the target audience is. I watched it to the end, mainly because of the nostalgia I feel for the still engaging performance of Elba’s brooding and intelligent ‘Luther’ but the laughable villain with his ludicrously fashioned hair just reduced the film to a mediocre farce.

This is a brilliant film with stunning performances from Ben Whishaw and Ellie Haddington. The Surge is the sudden breakthrough and escape from a mundane boring, dead and constrained existence to a daring and adrenaline high, flouting and defying social niceties and norms and feeling the power of just being alive. The main character played by Ben Whishaw is the person who most of us can identify with. His job in Customs reflects not only the humdrum and repetitive nature of our lives but the sadness of stunted relationships where colleagues eat Birthday cake out of tradition but not even knowing whose Birthday it is. This film has so many nuanced comments on our lives it is impossible to list them here but from the wonderful scene in the tube where Joseph ( Ben Whishaw) childlike and in rebellion , performs an uninhibited display of giving in to basic senses in front of a child passenger, I felt captivated and engaged with his character and fearful and excited for what lay ahead. To describe more would spoil the narrative but this is a beautifully directed film and the relationship between Joseph and his ageing parents is wonderfully portrayed. Despite their adherence to rules and polite table manners ( Joseph is told by his mother that he swallows too loudly) there is both love and a strong moral conscience that has been bestowed upon his character. If you have ever felt like breaking out of your daily repetitive existence and dreamt about defying rules and laws. If you have ever felt powerless when The ATM has swallowed up your Bank card then I am sure that you will enjoy this film.

Had to stop watching this about a third of the way in. Totally unbelievable and unrealistic plot and abominable acting. I am struggling to believe that anyone financed this film. I am struggling to believe I watched it for as long as I did. The trailer was promising but the film deteriorated rapidly after the couple’s daughter went missing. I am not an expert on police investigations but I have seen enough dramas and read enough books to know that the parent’s attempts to take the search into their own hands and embark on a killing spree was completely and utterly nonsensical. Having failed to watch the remainder of the film I am prepared to be corrected on this but it seemed like the director wanted to make a mish mash of every movie cliche he had ever encountered.