As the UK’s Brexit political thriller plays out in real time, IFC Films has set a release date for director Gavin Hood’s take on another one from 15 years ago. Official Secrets,the story of Iraq-invasion whistleblower Katharine Gun, will hit select theaters on August 23.
The film, which premiered at Sundance in January, stars Keira Knightley as Gun. Charged with breaking the Official Secrets Act in Britain, and facing imprisonment, she reaches out to Ben Emmerson (Ralph Fiennes), one of the top lawyers in the country, to take her case and defend her actions. With her life, freedom and marriage threatened, Gun risks everything by leaking a classified email to the press in the hope that this simple act could help halt an unjust war.
The pic also stars Matthew Goode, Adam Bakri and Matt Smith as journalist Martin Bright, who first publicly broke the news about the memo. The cast also includes John Heffernan, Indira Varma, Rhys Ifans, Conleth Hill, Tamsin Greig, Kenneth Cranham, Myanna Buring, Katherine Kelly, Shaun Dooley and Jeremy Northam.It’s the first film from helmer Hood, who also scripted with Sara Bernstein and Gregory Bernstein, since the 2015 drone-warfare thriller Eye in the Sky.
