Closed Circuit (2013) Eric Bana, Rebecca Hall, Ciarán Hinds, Jim Broadbent, Riz Ahmed Movie Review

Closed Circuit (2013)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall in Closed Circuit (2013)

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When a bomb goes off in a truck at a London market a Turkish immigrant by the name of Farroukh Erdogan (Denis Moschitto) is arrested on suspicion of being a leader of a terrorist group. When the original attorney assigned as Farroukh's defence lawyer mysteriously commits suicide Martin Rose (Eric Bana) is appointed his replacement which sees him working alongside Special Advocate Claudia Simmons-Howe (Rebecca Hall) who he previously had an affair with and cost him his marriage. But as each go about their separate jobs they both begin to suspect not all is as it seems with Martin suspicious of events in Farroukh's past as well as the feeling he is being followed whilst Claudia has to deal with nosey MI5 Agent Nazrul Sharma (Riz Ahmed).

I will say that this review of "Closed Circuit" features a spoiler although anyone who is observant is likely to pick up on what I am about to reveal quite quickly when watching the movie, even before it is actually revealed. So what goes on in "Closed Circuit" is this situation where Martin Rose on picking up that Farroukh's visa was passed in just 3 months when he returned from time in Germany being highly unusual considering past misdemeanours and so Martin suspects that Farroukh was in fact working for MI5. At the same time Claudia also gets information which makes her question what they know and why Farroukh's son is being so highly guarded.

As such what you get in "Closed Circuit" is a mix of danger, some of who can you trust and the revelation that maybe British secret service agents have their hands in things which the public never realise as even when lawyers discover the truth it ends up sealed away. But whilst the movie is nicely put together, well paced, certainly well acted by Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall the end result is still a movie which for some reason doesn't quite grip you or at least not until things kick off with some action as it reaches its final 30 minutes.

What this all boils down to is that "Closed Circuit" is a good movie, it has drama, twists and reveals but despite this for some reason it just doesn't end up being gripping. And I reckon that may come down to it trying to keep things pacey but in doing so making some of it feel too contrived.


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