This film is currently unavailable
Sabotage
A cinema owner works with a ring of terrorists, with drastic effects on his wife and her brother, in Hitchcock’s London-set thriller.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Overview
In Alfred Hitchcock’s playful thriller, Verloc, a London cinema owner, works with a group of terrorists to wreck havoc in the capital. His wife (American actor Sylvia Sidney) begins to suspect he is involved in sabotage, but it is her brother who becomes directly involved, when Verloc asks him to transport a package to Piccadilly Circus, which, unbeknownst to the boy, contains explosives. This leads to one of the tensest sequences in a Hitchcock film.
The film was adapted from The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad, not to be confused with Hitchcock’s previous feature, which shared the book’s title. The set pieces, from London being plunged into darkness at the start to a key moment of tension involving a carving knife near the end, are among the best from Hitchcock’s British films.
Related
The Critic The Critic
Period drama 2023 101 mins Director: Anand Tucker
Ian McKellen is in delicious form as London's most vicious critic, who strikes a Faustian pact with a struggling actor (Gemma Arterton).
Night Courier (Mandoob) Night Courier (Mandoob)
Comedy 2023 112 mins Director: Ali Kalthami
A desperate delivery driver gets caught up in the dark underworld of Riyadh in Ali Kalthami’s gripping, pitch-black satire.
Official Secrets Official Secrets
Thriller 2018 112 mins Director: Gavin Hood
Gripping political thriller with Keira Knightley as the intelligence officer who discovers a plot to rig a UN vote on the eve of the Iraq war.
Dark Waters Dark Waters
Biopic 2019 126 mins Director: Todd Haynes
Mark Ruffalo plays an attorney trying to uncover the corporate scandal of a chemical company poisoning a local community, in this searching ecological drama from Todd Haynes (Safe, Carol).
Seven Psychopaths Seven Psychopaths
Comedy 2012 110 mins Director: Martin McDonagh
Three Billboards' director Martin McDonagh spins an epic and twisted tale of pets and gangsters, with an all-star cast.
Eye in the Sky Eye in the Sky
Thriller 2016 102 mins Director: Gavin Hood
Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman (in his last role) play the military commanders caught in the ethical crosshairs of drone warfare, in Gavin Hood’s gripping military thriller.
Crimes of Passion Crimes of Passion
Thriller 1984 107 mins Director: Ken Russell
Ken Russell's second Hollywood film is a deliriously excessive erotic thriller with Kathleen Turner as an imperilled prostitute.
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Thriller 1969 97 mins Director: Dario Argento
Dario Argento's hugely influential thriller, about a murder witness who becomes amateur detective, added sex and style to the murder-mystery and kick-started Italy's 'giallo' genre.
L'Assassino L'Assassino
Crime 1961 98 mins Director: Elio Petri
Elio Petri’s dazzling first feature stars Marcello Mastroianni as dandyish antiques dealer arrested for murder by a Kafkaesque police force.
The Third Man The Third Man
Thriller 1949 105 mins Director: Carol Reed
Carol Reed's timeless classic, one of the greatest British films, lavishly marries a perfect script, an unforgettable theme tune and the star power of Orson Welles.
Mystery Road Mystery Road
Crime 2013 121 mins Director: Ivan Sen
An Aboriginal cop returns to his hometown to solve the brutal murder of a teenage girl, uncovering a web of corruption and a growing body count, in Ivan Sen's acclaimed Australian riff on the Western genre.
Wake in Fright Wake in Fright
Drama 1971 109 mins Director: Ted Kotcheff
In this classic, broiling Australian thriller, an exasperated schoolteacher finds himself stranded in the dusty outback town of Bundanyabba, where the growing isolation and unhinged locals begin to eat away at his sanity.
Blackmail Blackmail
Police drama 1929 82 mins Silent Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock's first sound film sees a young woman blackmailed for a murder she was forced to commit.
Strangers on a Train Strangers on a Train
Thriller 1951 101 mins Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Hitchcock's adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel is a classic example of his ingenuity. All the elements are here: the average person in an impossible situation, some amazing cinematic achievements and the gradual, ominous increase in tension.
North by Northwest North by Northwest
Thriller 1959 136 mins Director: Alfred Hitchcock
In Hitchcock’s iconic thriller, Cary Grant plays a man forced on the run across the US.
Shadow of a Doubt Shadow of a Doubt
Drama 1943 108 mins Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Hitchcock’s personal favourite from his own films is a brilliantly suspenseful drama about a teenage girl whose uncle may be a murderer.
Downhill Downhill
Drama 1927 105 mins Silent Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock’s fifth film features an early variation on his fabled ‘wrong man’plot, as Ivor Novello stands accused of getting a girl pregnant.
Only the River Flows Only the River Flows
Crime 2023 102 mins Director: Shujun Wei
Shujun Wei's slow-burn noir draws us inexorably into its mysterious psychological journey.
The Critic The Critic
Period drama 2023 101 mins Director: Anand Tucker
Ian McKellen is in delicious form as London's most vicious critic, who strikes a Faustian pact with a struggling actor (Gemma Arterton).
Special People Special People
Comedy 2008 74 mins Director: Justin Edgar
Justin Edgar's pioneering feature comedy about a neurotic filmmaker enlisted to make a film with a class of wheelchair-users.
Timestalker Timestalker
Comedy 2024 89 mins Director: Alice Lowe
What if unrequited love spanned the centuries? Alice Lowe's time-jumping fantasy rom-com is a colourful, darkly funny treat.
South: Sir Ernest Shackleton's Glorious Epic of the Antarctic South: Sir Ernest Shackleton's Glorious Epic of the Antarctic
Documentary 1919 81 mins Silent Director: Frank Hurley
An extraordinary story of survival in the wastes of Antarctica.
Night Courier (Mandoob) Night Courier (Mandoob)
Comedy 2023 112 mins Director: Ali Kalthami
A desperate delivery driver gets caught up in the dark underworld of Riyadh in Ali Kalthami’s gripping, pitch-black satire.