Advertisement

Movies & TV Movies & TV Reviews

Harry Potter plays a skinhead in Imperium

IMPERIUM (Daniel Ragussis). 108 minutes. Opens Friday (September 30). See listing. Rating: NNN


Daniel Ragussis’s undercover thriller declares itself “inspired by real events,” but its generic tale of a young FBI agent (Daniel Radcliffe) sent to infiltrate the American white power movement follows the familiar beats of decades of TV procedurals. 

This doesn’t make it a bad movie, just a very familiar one. 

Radcliffe and Toni Collette (as the pissy domestic terrorism expert who becomes his handler) bring their scenes to life, and co-writer/director Ragussis uses some inventive staging in the inevitable scenes where our hero has to think fast to maintain his cover. 

Its R rating allows Imperium to be much more unsettling in its depictions of violence and hatred than your average episode of CSI, and in the era of a Trump candidacy, a movie that points to the dangers of racist rhetoric is definitely something we need. 

But it’s awfully hard to build suspense when you can see every plot twist coming a mile away. 

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Recently Posted