A very underrated Cillian Murphy thriller movie is on TV tonight

'A tense and tight 90-minute thriller.'

The film sees Murphy and Thandiwe Newton (Line of Duty, Westworld) play a married couple, Martin and Kate, whose relationship has become tense in the wake of Kate experiencing a miscarriage.

As such, Martin takes Kate back to a small, remote, uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland called Blackholme, where they shared happy memories years previously.

The holiday retreat gets off to a rocky start as buried resentments between the couple rise to the surface, and their cottage suffers a series of power outages.

Things go from bad to worse, however, when Kate spots an injured armed man (an excellent Jamie Bell – All of Us Strangers, Snowpiercer) passing out near their holiday house.

When the stranger awakens, he informs the couple that his name is Jack, that he is a soldier, and that a deadly airborne virus has reached the UK.

Because of this, he says the three must barricade the cottage to avoid becoming infected.

So far, so 28 Days Later – particularly given Cillian Murphy's presence.

That said, Jack’s outlandish claims and his domineering, erratic behaviour lead Kate and Martin to suspect that the supposed soldier is actually not interested in saving them. Instead, he may be seeking to trap them.

Taking place entirely on and around the island and mostly in the holiday cottage, Retreat is a tense and tight 90-minute thriller that hits a couple of classic beats very well.

Comparisons to the likes of 28 Days Later are inevitable. Yet, the script by director Carl Tibbets (Black Mirror) and novelist Janice Hallett (The Examiner) is more psychological in nature, focusing nearly completely on three people thrust into a situation where they can’t trust one another and must constantly manipulate each other in order to get what they want or need.

Plus, whether or not Jack is telling the truth, the character’s claims of global collapse do serve to ratchet up the tension.

As Retreat nears its end, the film’s screenplay has some sharp stings in its tail that will have you reconsidering everything that’s happened before, something which makes the thriller a nifty rewatch.

Having only received a sadly limited release in cinemas, the thriller unexpectedly made headlines last year when it was added to Netflix.

If you don't have the streaming service and want to check out Retreat, it is also airing on TV tonight on BBC Two at 11.45pm.

The trailer for the Cillian Murphy movie Retreat

Here are the other movies airing on TV tonight:

Armageddon - Comedy Central - 8pm

Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck are blue-collar deep-core drillers sent by NASA to stop a gigantic asteroid on a collision course with Earth in this hugely entertaining sci-fi disaster flick.

A Man Called Otto - Film4 - 9pm

Tom Hanks is… a man called Otto.

The Game - Legend - 9pm

Michael Douglas stars in this gripping, stylish thriller as a wealthy investment banker whose life becomes a living nightmare after being given a mysterious birthday gift by his brother (Sean Penn).

Aftermath - Legend Xtra - 9pm

Inspired by real events, this 2017 thriller centres on a man (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who seeks justice after his family is killed in a plane crash.

Jericho Ridge - Sky Max - 9pm

This 2023 neo-Western about a small town cop (Nikki Amuka-Bird) who must fight for her life when her remote sheriff’s office is targeted by murderous attackers holds a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Our Kind of Traitor - Film4 - 11.25pm

Based on a John le Carré novel, this solid spy thriller revolves around a couple vacationing in Morocco (Ewan McGregor and Naomie Harris) who get pulled into a complicated web of espionage when they make friends with a fellow holidaymaker (Stellan Skarsgård).

The Night of the 12th - Film4 - 1.35am

Along with Retreat, we'd recommend this excellent, dark French thriller, which follows the investigation into the murder of a young woman in a small town in the Alps, led by a recently promoted police captain (Bastien Bouillon).

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It’s currently priced from €36.99 on the Amazon website.

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