Shadow Dancer, masterful

James Marsh has created a superbly tense political thriller with Shadow Dancer, which benefits from extraordinary performances by Andrea Riseborough and Clive Owen.

Set at the time of the Troubles, Marsh immerses the viewer in a tense and believable cat-and-mouse game, in which Owen, of MI5, blackmails Riseborough, a member of the IRA, into betraying his comrades in the Belfast resistance.

Each harrowing encounter oozes complexity and moral ambiguity as both sides play increasingly dangerous games of deception. Riseborough and Owen convey stories of a lifetime with just a glance.

Cinematographer Eduard Grau endows even the exteriors with an ominous intimacy that amplifies the danger and isolation of each character in a dark trade that claims the souls of both sides.

Though perhaps too cynical for some, Shadow Dancer stimulates a visceral reaction and a deeper reflection on societies divided against themselves and individual wills that resist manipulation.

A haunting modern parable, Shadow Dancer confirms Marsh as one of the UK's foremost political filmmakers, and Riseborough as a revelation: together they weave an unforgettable spell.