Keira Knightley is an actress often associated with period dramas – a choice, she told BBC News while promoting her film Colette, because it’s where she finds the “strongest roles” – but her latest film, while technically a period drama, takes place much more recently than the films we usually think of as falling into that category.
The movie is called Official Secrets, and it tells the story of British whistleblower Katharine Gun (played by Knightley), a civilian translator at the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) intelligence office in the UK, who leaked top-secret information to the press concerning illegal activities by the US in its push for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The Official Secrets cast is a veritable who’s who of Brit acting talent. In addition to Knightley, the drama stars Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, Ralph Fiennes, Rhys Ifans, Indira Varma, Conleth Hill, Tamsin Greig, Monica Dolan and Katherine Kelly.
Check out the trailer below…
There’s a certain dramatic irony of watching movies set in recent history. We know how this will all turn out, and can see more directly how the actions being depicted have influenced our current world order. Official Secrets may take place in 2003, but it very much feels like a movie that has some important things to say about where we are now.
The film is directed and written by South African filmmaker Gavin Hood, who has previously directed Oscar winner Tsotsi, Ender’s Game, Eye in the Sky and, erm, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Official Secrets hits UK cinemas on 18 October 2019.
