Official Secrets

In "Official Secrets", Katharine (by Keira Knightley) is a Chinese translator at the Government Information Headquarters (GCHQ) in Cheltenham, England, which is the headquarters of British signals intelligence. She has black hair (the actual Katharine in real life has blonde hair), little makeup, and is maybe a touch shabby. In 2003, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair, and the president of the United States, George W. Bush, were pressing for a fight against Saddam Hussein. They would like the U.N. Security Council to endorse the invasion plan so that both nations may proclaim it lawfully. Still, the ballots of the interim Security Council members are not reliable.

Keira Knightley's casting as Katharine Gun for "Official Secrets" may seem risky at first, but Knightley has honed her acting skills since "Bend it Like Beckham", in which she played a klutzy kid. In retrospect, acting seemed like a strange land she would never explore. Keira will always be lauded for her beauty rather than her acting; nevertheless, the actress has successfully portrayed Gun with passion and as much realism as possible. The plot hinges on her being an "ordinary" person who achieves something spectacular. And by any measure, Gun's actions were just that.

Year of Release: 2019

Stars: Keira Knightley, Matt Smith, Matthew Goode

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 82%