Beckett (John David Washington) and his girlfriend April (Alicia Vikander) are holidaying in Greece when they hear news of a political protest scheduled to take place right outside their rented apartment. Deciding to flee to the mountains to avoid the noise and commotion they are met with a tragic car accident that embroils Beckett in a plot that threatens his life.

Beckett is a difficult film to wholeheartedly recommend but one that I enjoyed thanks to its peculiarity and its throwback to what felt like a 1970’s thriller. The title is frankly an odd decision given that it tells us nothing. But perhaps the point is that the titular Beckett is an ordinary man thrown into an extraordinary situation and the less we know the better. I suspect the marketing department may not have been impressed, although they seem to have barely been engaged given that this film appeared on Netflix with little fanfare.

The opening section of the film focuses on Beckett and April’s relationship and holiday, designed to show us their everyday life and love. When they are involved in a car accident Beckett sees something that he should not and spends the rest of the film trying to escape from corrupt police officers trying to kill him. At this point it truly feels like a 1970’s film. The likes of which that would have been directed by John Frankenheimer. Beckett has no fighting or weaponry skills, only speaks English and has no idea what to do. As we follow his desperate attempts to escape and find safety we do get sucked into his peril thanks to the believable clumsiness of his escape attempts. On his travels he will bump into political activist Lena (Vicky Krieps) and a US Embassy official Tynan (Boyd Holbrook) who may help or hinder his journey.

Where it succeeds is in the physicality of John David Washington’s performance and the pared back everyman on the run action. Washington used to be a professional American Football Player so it should be no surprise that he can sell that physicality, but where it works the most is in how he is believable as someone who has no idea what he is doing when defending himself. Beckett takes a serious amount of punishment throughout the course of the film and I winced at every impact.

Where it fails on the other hand is in the way it wastes its supporting cast and how it wraps up its central conspiracy plot. Vikander, Krieps and Holbrook are all interesting, talented actors and none of them really get to do anything of note. Whilst the central conspiracy is far more interesting whilst it remains a mystery rather than in its resolution.

Perhaps I should recommend a French Connection double bill instead but this is ok if you are in the mood too.