December 1941. At the height of Nazi occupation across Europe and both in exile, two agents in the form of Cillian Murphy’s Josef Gabcik and Jamie Dornan’s Jan Kubis are parachuted back into their tortured homeland Czechoslovakia. Josef a steely-eyed realist whom truly appreciates the cost of war as Jan is a nervous being who is almost naive to the ramifications, with the film effectively capturing the trauma and strain of being pressurised into merely killing a man up close, can put on one’s psyche.

They are determined to reach Prague as they look to carry out Operation Anthropoid which revolves around the audacious assassination of General Heydrich, as they encounter fellow members of the Resistance along the way, enlisting the help of Toby Jones’ battle-weary Uncle Hajsky who is the battle-weary spearhead of the Jindra organisation.

The tight, taut framing and consistent use of close-ups by Sean Ellis really gives its audience a sense of a continent under siege. The director is very considered and meticulous in driving home the important details of its story, which particularly in its early infancy does leave the film somewhat laboured in pace.

Yet such care pays off in splendid and startling fashion as he provides us with a blistering second hour, complete with a thinly-veiled dig at the fake news that now seemingly dominates and influences the decision making of the public and world leaders of modern society, with the idea that ‘mere gossip wipes a village off the face of the Earth’. The climatic cathedral stand-off is superbly staged, as frantic switches of the points of view captured through impeccable editing punctuated by chilling silences accentuate the horror and brutality of its German antagonists, along with the bravery that was on display by these men.

Taking a minor leap here down the timeline from 1920’s Birmingham as Peaky Blinders’ notorious gangster Thomas Shelby, Cillian Murphy is on terrific form as Gabcik, relentless in his approach to the mission without giving much away in the way of fierce emotion, creating a fascinating juxtaposition. Whilst serving as a great showcase for Jamie Dornan too, whose panic-stricken showing as Kubis with his character struggling to deal with the weight of responsibility on his shoulders, wonderfully nuanced. They are ably supported by the ever-reliable Toby Jones along with the well-crafted female duo of Anna Geislerova’s Lenka and Charlotte Le Bon’s Marie, as they refuse to see their emotional investment and loss through this war downplayed by Jan and Josef along with succumbing to the romantic subplot cliches.

Coupling raw realism with a staggering attention to detail, Anthropoid is a truly thrilling war film that bristles with slow-burning tension.

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Anthropoid is out on DVD & Blu-Ray now!