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Beckett begins with the titular lead (John David Washington) and girlfriend April (Alicia Vikander) on their travels through Greece, making up stories about other people they see, whilst living love’s young dream.
A car accident, which crashes into a house, leaves Beckett on his own, at which point he’s sure he saw the occupants, but apparently it was an empty house, according to the Keystone Cops running the town, led by Xenakis (Panos Koronis).
So, a couple of days later, he returns to the place where his car landed, and just as he’s at his lowest ebb, all of a sudden, a woman starts shooting at him. But why? Hence, he ends up on the run with no real idea of where to go, nor of the language anyone speaks, making him very much a stranger in a strange land.
For this most part, this has a feel of a classic chase thriller like something from the ’70s, as he tries to stay alive. Some people help him – like political activists Eleni (Maria Votti) and Lena (Vicky Krieps), while others aren’t so friendly, and since he soon begins to feel he can’t trust the police, he puts his faith in arriving at the US Embassy, but is that the answer?
Well, without giving spoilers, I can say it sees him somehow getting mixed up amongst some politicial mumbo jumbo, with a revolutionary leader, all of which makes no sense, even when it’s explained to him late in the film. It all feels like the story was summarised on the back of a cigarette packet during a night on the booze.
Initially, Beckett is very engaging indeed, but as it goes on, things do get ridiculously stupid, especially when the baddies seem to have spotters in every nook and cranny in the country, along with some of the ‘heights’ the lead character will go to in order to stop them, as you’ll discover late in the film.
So, not a patch in the same league as John David Washington’s breakthrough role in Tenet, but it still towers over the navel-gazing tedium of Malcolm and Marie.
Beckett is on Netflix now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Check out the trailer below:
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 108 minutes
Release date: August 13th 2021
Studio: Netflix
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Rating: 7/10
Director: Ferdinando Cito Filomarino
Producer: Shelagh Conley, Luca Guadagnino, Francesco Melzi d’Eril, Marco Morabito, Gabriele Moratti, Rodrigo Teixeira
Screenplay: Kevin A Rice
Story : Ferdinando Cito Filomarino
Music: Ryuichi Sakamoto
Cast:
Beckett: John David Washington
April: Alicia Vikander
Karras: Yorgos Pirpassopoulos
Dimos: Filippos Ioannidis
Eleni: Maria Votti
Lena: Vicky Krieps
Tynan: Boyd Holbrook
Officer Xenakis: Panos Koronis
Female Shooter: Lena Kitsopoulou
Old Hunter: Andreas Marianos
Officer Majessy: Marc Marder
April’s Father: Michael Stuhlbarg
Man Beekeeper: Yorgos Vasiliou
Woman Beekeeper: Olga Spyraki
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.