There's something very endearing and intriguing about films that take place in one location. When done right, they're usually very captivating. Thus is the case with Steven Wright's Locke, whose set consists entirely within the confines of a BMW. Locke is an incredibly unique take on the concept of minimalist cinema, and one that may very well be, one of the year's best.

One night, Ivan Locke finishes up at work and gets into his car for the ride home. The routine voyage takes him to a traffic light where he is giving a left turn signal. After pondering for a couple of moments, he changes his mind and turns right. Which in turn, leads to his whole life turning upside down. I'm not going to dwell too much on the plot in order to avoid potential spoilers, but suffice it to say, the story is gripping, interesting, and very well written.

Steven Wright's script was superb. Ivan Locke is pretty much the only character we spend time with, as all the supporting characters were portrayed through a series of phone calls. The titular character was amazingly well written, which is exactly what you need when you make a character study like this. But on top of that, the dialogue was excellent, which gives all the supporting characters a real life-like feel to them.

Ivan Locke is played by one of the brightest stars working in Hollywood today, Tom Hardy. Hardy gives us an award worthy performance in this one man show, like he's done before in 2009's Bronson. He handles the role with a certain level of nuance that elevates, not only his performance, but also the entire film. There's no doubt in my mind that Tom Hardy is on his way to becoming one of the biggest stars of his generation, and he's certainly on the right path with his work here.

The supporting cast consists of names like Ruth Wilson, Olivia Colman, Andrew Scott, and Ben Daniels, among others. All of them did a tremendous job in portraying their faceless characters with their excellent voice-over work.

Steven Wright also worked as the director for the film, which he did fantastically. It's not the easiest thing to build suspense when you're limited to one actor and the interior of a car, but Wright did so, and the tension was palpable. The phrase “on the edge of my seat” comes to mind, as I was truly gripped and enthralled by every moment of the film.

Locke also looked beautiful visually. Whether it's the daunting shots of the M6, or the innovative camera angles employed inside the car; it's wonderful directing. But it would be a travesty to not mention the absolutely breathtaking cinematography done by Haris Zambarloukos.

At first, I thought the film ended in an abrupt way. But the more I thought about it, the more I started to realise how genius it really was. Everything, along with the brilliant score by Dickon Hinchliffe, combined together to make what I now believe to be the perfect ending.

Locke is a masterclass in filmmaking. Not only does it engross the viewer, but it does it in such an elegant way that will keep the film lingering in your mind for days to come. It's an easy recommendation from me, and I cannot wait to revisit it again.