Closed Circuit

Surprise, surprise, the British government is watching everything you do in the legal thriller Closed Circuit. After terrorists blow up a busy London market, the mastermind is detained and put on trial with suspicious ease. Lawyers Rebecca Hall and Eric Bana will represent the accused, which would be awkward for the ex-lovers even if there weren’t an intricate conspiracy of lies that went straight to the top. Bana is functionally handsome, but Hall holds the screen as a wound-up stress-ball whose control is continually striped away. Julia Stiles and Jim Broadbent also get to colour outside the lines with some disposable cameos. There’s little new to Closed Circuit, which unfolds its shadowy secrets with traditional regiment. Investigative processes and legal discoveries may be engrossing to some, if you’re into that sort of thing, but sadly the film can’t find a theme worth standing upon. —Jacob Boon