As couples therapy goes, tinkering with international espionage is an unconventional gambit. That is, however, the basic premise here. Flimsy foundation aside, Our Kind of Traitor ranks respectably within the spy genre and the expanding le Carré cinematic universe in particular.

McGregor is a compelling lead, an honest man whose word is his bond however sticky the situation becomes, whilst Lewis fits his role as perfectly as his tailored suit and Skarsgård is on his most exuberant and gregarious form. Only Harris is shortchanged as a lead, limited to a role too similar to Moneypenny to show her true worth.

With motives and milieu as murky as Anthony Dod Mantle’s distinctive cinematography, Our Kind of Traitor is a serviceable and relevant film with little to distinguish it above its compatriots. 

RATING: 3/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Ewan McGregor, Damian Lewis, Naomie Harris, Stellan Skarsgård

DIRECTOR: Susanna White

WRITERS: Hossein Amini (screenplay), John le Carré (novel)

SYNOPSIS: A couple find themselves lured into a Russian oligarch’s plans to defect and are soon positioned between the Russian Mafia and the British Secret Service, neither of whom they can trust.