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DVD Review: Page Eight – Metro US

DVD Review: Page Eight

Genre: Mystery

Director: David Hare

Stars: Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, Tom Hughes

**1⁄2

Page Eight is an absorbing British thriller, exploring timely and believable themes that aren’t the preserve of most such movies — which may explain why it’s going straight to DVD following its TIFF gala debut in September.

Written and directed by David Hare, the pen behind The Hours and The Reader, it stars the inimitable Bill Nighy as veteran spy Johnny Worricker, who works for Britain’s security service, MI5. Johnny’s best friend, Benedict Baron (Michael Gambon), also his boss, is head of MI5’s intelligence analysis division, the keeper of explosive secrets.

One such intrigue concerns a mysterious file containing information about U.K. involvement in torture prisons, which the government officially disavows all knowledge of. The file is so inflammatory that it threatens the very existence of the MI5, not to mention the job of the Prime Minister (Ralph Fiennes).

Meanwhile, Johnny has a seemingly chance encounter with his striking neighbour, Nancy Pierpan (Rachel Weisz), who is obsessed with finding out what happened to her brother, who, we are told, was killed by Israeli forces in the Occupied Territories.

Truth is the first casualty of Page Eight’s tangled webs; Worricker’s career (or worse) could be next.

Rounding out the sterling cast of characters are Judy Davis as Johnny’s aggressive, scheming MI5 colleague, and Felicity Jones as his daughter, Julianne.

Extras include cast and crew interviews.