Cert 15.

117 mins.

Thriller/Drama/Romance.

Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Grigoriy Dobrygin, Homayoun Ershadi, Rachel McAdams, Willem Dafoe, Nina Hoss, Daniel Bruhl, Vicky Krieps, Robin Wright.

CHECHEN refugee Issa Karpov (Grigoriy Dobrygin) enters Hamburg illegally and seeks refuge with a kind Turkish woman (Derya Alabora) and her son (Tamer Yigit).

They put Issa in touch with immigration lawyer Annabel Richter (Rachel McAdams) and Tommy Brue (Willem Dafoe), who is head of the private bank used by Issa’s sadistic father to store his ill-gotten coffers.

German intelligence operative Gunther Bachmann (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his team comprising right-hand woman Irna Frey (Nina Hoss) and juniors Maximilian (Daniel Bruhl) and Niki (Vicky Krieps) identify Issa as an escaped militant jihadist.

They choose not to arrest him but use Issa as bait to snag Muslim academic and philanthropist Dr Faisal Abdullah (Homayoun Ershadi), who is suspected of channelling funds to terrorist Islamic organisations.

The plan doesn’t unfold smoothly and Gunther’s operation faces intense scrutiny from high-ranking CIA operative Martha Sullivan (Robin Wright).

Based on the 2008 novel of the same name by John Le Carre, A Most Wanted Man is a slow-burning espionage thriller, which steadily cranks up the tension, building to a nerve-jangling finale that has us holding our breath.

Anton Corbijn’s film delights in the minutiae of the spy game.

Expertly choreographed scenes of surveillance are punctuated by verbal fireworks and threats of violence.

The uniformly excellent international cast is anchored by Hoffman, who delivers a typically understated yet riveting portrayal of a German intelligence agent, who lives on his nerves and occasional swigs of whisky or puffs of a cigarette.