Anyone who's ever had to endure more than a 30 minute stretch on Britain's motorways will sympathise with the fact that each and every journey feels like a living purgatory.

Locke takes that to its narrative conclusion, crafting an 85 minut꧅e emotional drama that takes place almost solely within the confines of a car, the man driving it, and a three hour-long jour🌠ney in which all conceivable emotional hell breaks loose.

If that sounds a little too monotonous or high concept, then know that the man in question, Ivan Locke, is played by none other than Tom Har🌳dy, who manages to make the tale riveti🎃ng and magnetic, despite the occasional scripting wobble.

Boasti📖ng a Welsh accent, a gruff beard and the resigned aura of a man fully aware of the inevitable trudge towards a life-enveloping emotional implosion, he anchors the story in which Ivan's personal and professional lives are both on the precipice of disaster.

Confined to his car on a desperate drive to London, he takes and makes call 🎶after call in a spiralling narrative that draws in his wife, children, boss, former colleague, a spattering of side characters, and a w𓆉hole host of Daddy/morality issues.

While the supporting roles (or voices) are always engaging (helped by a semi-starry cast including Olivia Coleman, Alice Lowe, and The Lone Range r 's Ruth Wilson), some end up more grating than gripping, so ꩵit's lucky💧 that Hardy is on top form, with an emotionally fragile and dense performance that resonates as the heart-aching tether.

Part Buried and part Drive , but more dramatically grounded (no hammer bludgeoning or stuck in a coffin-ing ♋here), it's a claustrophobic, emotionally weathering and yet always watchable ride.

For more Sundance movies, check out our list of the .