Beirut (2018)

While stationed in Beirut, a US diplomat and his wife begin caring for a boy they believe to be without a family. But in the middle of a party they discover in the most shocking way possible that his brother is alive – and a member of a terrorist organisation determined to kidnap him. The diplomat’s Lebanese wife is caught in the crossfire, and he leaves Beirut, vowing never to return.

Years later, now an alcoholic, he’s approached by the CIA for one final mission: to return to Beirut and negotiate for the life of a friend he left behind.

There’s a star-studded cast in this thriller: Jon Hamm is Mason Stiles, the diplomat, while Rosamund Pike plays the CIA agent designated as his handler.

Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie 81%, saying: “Beirut tells a complex, tightly plotted tale of international intrigue, further elevated by strong central performances from Jon Hamm and Rosamund Pike.”

Variety called it an “agreeably old-school form of cinematic espionage intrigue”, while the Financial Times said that “Beirut proves surprisingly sensitive in its handling of the Middle East, mapping out an area of nuanced power struggle rather than a cartoon Casablanca-style warzone.”