Anthropoid

Two Czech soldiers in civilian clothes parachute into snowy woods outside Prague in the middle of winter, 1941. Jan Kubis (Dornan) and Josef Gabcik (Murphy) have one mission: Anthropoid: the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. Known as the Butcher of Prague, Hitler’s third-in-command and the one tasked with implementing the Final Solution is currently overseeing factory production in Czechoslovakia as the Third Reich feeds its Eastern Front and the Czech government in London have targeted him for termination.

Directed by Sean Ellis, who turned in the effective Metro Manila, Anthropoid is a sister movie to Valkyrie – a slick offering that wallows in the details and slow-burning power. Almost a character-driven thriller, at times it feels like Ellis is more interested in who his men are and what makes them tick than building up to the assassination itself. The nervous Dornan doubts if he has the courage to go through with it while the all-business Murphy has a fatalistic approach to the mission. But in making his protagonists more human Ellis can’t resist including a needless romance, which ends up underdeveloped anyway: Dornan has his head turned by Marie (Le Bon) and, despite himself, Murphy falls for Lenka (Anna Geislerova), two women posing as their sweethearts so the men don’t garner unwanted attention.

This leads to a somewhat flabby middle section but when Ellis remembers it’s a thriller, Anthropoid, with is shaky cam style, bristles with nervous energy. The assassination is pretty much a stab-in-the-dark attempt, cobbled together by ifs and maybes, and could fall apart at any moment, giving the build-up real edge. And it’s like this from the off as the director is determined to show just how difficult and haphazard this mission from the very first sequence: Murphy’s Gabcik gashes his leg badly in the opening sequence, while the next sees their contact betrays them. Then they find Czech resistance are reluctant to get involved. Eyes are everywhere. Don’t trust anyone.

In what is a brave move, the story doesn’t wind up immediately after the assassination attempt either (the SS would go on to exact a terrible revenge on the Czech people), allowing Anthropoid to find new life in its long final act – a wonderfully visualised shootout that rivals Days of Glory’s doomed showdown.

A good-looking spy movie (Prague in the snow and sun looks gorgeous) with strong performances from its leads (some will have problems with Murphy and Dornan’s accent-heavy lines but only if they’re determined to do so), Anthropoid will engage throughout.