Yann Demange’s feature debut relentlessly shifts from ambient tension to blunt horror time and time again, in what must be 2014’s most flagrant display of up-and-coming British talent.

‘71’s erratic authenticity consistently plays into its bizarrely unpredictable off-screen cause and effect. Unknown allegiances and dreaded intersection maintains a heavy sense of anxiety throughout, thrillingly endured by an increasingly exhausted O’Connell.

Though O’Connell may take head billing, where ‘71 truly impresses is in its supporting cast. Rare complexity is attentively played through even the most minor roles, lovingly crafted far beyond the frame.

’71 shows true care and attention to its constructed world. Though dialogue comes few and far between, Demange’s directorial intensity renders speaking largely unnecessary.

RATING: 4/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Jack O’Connell, Sam Reid, Sean Harris

DIRECTOR: Yann Demange

WRITERS: Gregory Burke

SYNOPSIS: A young British soldier becomes separated from the rest of his unit in 1971 Belfast.