7. Locke
Starring not much more than Tom Hardy, a BMW, and a phone, Locke is somehow one of the most compelling films on show here, not to mention the best argument yet for Tom Hardy as the greatest contemporary actor alive. Hardy stars as Ivan Locke, a man trying to juggle his job, wife, son, and the mother of his soon-to-be illegitimate child on one long drive to attend the birth of said illegitimacy. Locke, then, is simply Hardy, in a flawless Welsh accent, phoning and re-phoning the key people in his life, falling apart, gradually, as he does so. Written and directed by Steven Knight (a brilliant writer here directing only his second film), Locke is an achievement in minimalism, the whole affair, bar a few establishing shots of the motorway, taking place in the car, inches away from Hardy's inimitable face.