‘71 directed by Yann Demange, written by Gregory Burke, with Jack O’Connell, Sam Reid and Sean Harris. An Elevation Pictures release. 99 minutes. Opens Friday (March 13). Rating: NNNN
Watch online: iTunes
This intense survival thriller is set in a particularly heated time during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Unbroken star Jack O’Connell plays Gary Hook, a young British soldier who is accidentally stranded in Belfast by his unit after a small, disorienting riot turns deadly.
He ducks through alleyways and corridors where various factions are looking to draw blood, all the while witnessing the multi-faceted political divisions and the various back-dealings that fan the flames of turmoil.
Though genre contrivances and docudrama make an uneasy marriage, Yann Demange’s stealthy direction doesn’t allow you to dwell on it, keeping the action moving through standoffs that are lurid, visceral and ultimately tragic.