2013: THE FILM YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN BUT DIDN'T - CLOSED CIRCUIT

There were few bombs bigger than Closed Circuit in 2013, yet few you've heard less of. And that's precisely why is was such a flop. The Film You Should Have Seen But Didn't from last year is that very thriller, starring Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall, written (pretty terrifically) by Steven Knight and directed (pretty terribly) by John Crowley. The critical reception to the film wasn't exactly ecstatic back in August, but it wasn't damning either. Alas, people need a reason to see one of Steven Knight's London-based slow-burners, and this time there was no Jason Statham or David Cronenberg to pique anyone's interest. Poor old Focus Features (not their best year, awk) didn't know what to do with the film, sure, but they failed to save much face even with a tentative release into 870 theatres in the US, from which it was rapidly withdrawn. Even in the UK, where the film was set and made, it was buried by its distributor and forgotten by the public. But it's a cracking political thriller, smart and tense as you need it to be, but not too clever, not too twisty, not too exploitative for its own good. Closed Circuit is The Film You Should Have Seen But Didn't in 2013. See it in 2014 instead.