A darkly funny thriller that delivers a solid dramatic punch on a slender budget, Klokkenluider is the feature debut of British actor turned writer-director Neil Maskell (Humans, Peaky Blinders). The title is Dutch for “whistleblower” and the setting is rural Belgium, possibly as an oblique homage to Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges (2008), which this claustrophobic chamber piece superficially resembles in places, even though it was actually shot in Britain. Maskell is best known for his acting work with cult comedy thriller director Ben Wheatley (Kill List, Free Fire, High-Rise), who is credited as executive producer here.
Despite a few first-film wobbles, Maskell displays a keen grasp of absurd humour and slow-burn suspense here. The genre-friendly plot and strong ensemble cast, which includes Tom Burke (The Souvenir, Mank) and Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who, The Sandman), should give Klokkenluider decent audience prospects following its world premiere at London Film Festival last week. Wheatley’s track record will also help, as Maskell’s fatalistic yarn clearly explores similar dramatic terrain as the Wheatley Cinematic Universe: the banality of evil, the thin line between comedy and horror, the latent violence lurking lurks just below the surface calm of civilisation. More festival slots are already booked, including Black Nights in Tallinn.
The would-be whistleblowers at the heart of Klokkenluider are Ewan (Amit Shah), a jittery high-level IT specialist for the British government, and his no-nonsense Belgian wife Silke (Sura Dohnke). Fearing for their safety after stumbling across an apparently world-shaking conspiracy, this young couple are now on the run, hiding out in a remote lakeside holiday home in Belgium. While they wait to spill their explosive secrets to the media, a British newspaper sends over a pair of bodyguards to watch over them, haughty Englishman Chris (Tom Burke) and boozy, garrulous Welshman Glynn (Roger Evans).
Like an estranged married couple on their last holiday before divorcing, Chris and Glynn are comically amateurish heavies, promising slick professionalism but constantly bickering and clashing. Maskell fills these early scenes with low-level tension and bruise-black humour as the foursome share a socially awkward few days together. Even cheerfully mundane vignettes set in village cake shops are laced with a creeping sense of dread. But the nerve-jangling mood shifts into high gear with the arrival of Flo (Coleman), a bracingly cynical journalist tasked with weighing up whether the fugitive couple’s secrets are even worth reporting. She bluntly assures them that nobody will really care either way, as even the most explosive conspiracy story is little more than a means to sell advertising. Coleman gives an enjoyably sour performance here, all eye-rolling sarcasm and casual F-bombs.
Klokkenluider has a crisp visual look with a lightly experimental edge that compounds its disquieting sense of society in moral collapse. Cinematographer Nick Gillespie, another Wheatley veteran, builds teasing intrigue by introducing the characters in tight, partially revealing close-ups. He also uses variable frame-speed within single unbroken shots, to gently disorienting effect. Music is deployed liberally throughout the film, often in unsettling and jarringly ironic ways. Laced with ominous hints, Maskell’s skimpy screenplay promises more than it delivers, and the chilling finale is not quite the surprise twist it should have been. But this moody little thriller is still an impressive debut, leaving behind a sense of malevolent, powerful forces at work on a much grander scale.
Director, screenwriter: Neil Maskell
Cast: Tom Burke, Amit Shah, Jenna Coleman, Sura Dohnke, Roger Evans
Producers: Helen Simmons, Stephanie Aspin
Cinematography: Nick Gillespie
Editing: Jason Rayton
Music: Andy Shortwave
Production companies: Erebus Pictures (UK), MarVista Entertainment (US)
World sales: Endeavour Content, MarVista Entertainment
Venue: BFI London Film Festival (Laugh)
In English, Dutch
85 minutes
