It’s our third recommendation as part of the Ardhowen Theatre’s ‘Intermission’ programme of virtual, online and Live in Lockdown events and activities.

Released in 2009, The Hurt Locker is a spell-binding film about a bomb disposal team in Iraq. It is a nail-biting action thriller, full of tension and edge-of-the-seat suspense.

The screenplay is by Mark Boal, who as a journalist was embedded with troops and bomb squads in Iraq, and for which he won an Oscar.

The film stars Jeremy Renner, in a compelling performance as the suicidally brave bomb-disposal technician, Staff Sgt James. He is both expert and maverick, takes terrifying risks but somehow survives. The insane danger, the life-threatening risk, the adrenaline rush…. it’s like some sort of drug high to him and seemingly as addictive.

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, it garnered much critical acclaim and she won the Oscar for Best Director in 2010, the first woman to do so. In achieving her award, she famously beat her ex-husband, James Cameron, nominated for the then highest grossing film in modern history, ‘Avatar’.