Our Kind of Traitor (15)
Directed by Susana White
4 stars

Riding high on the phenomenal success of The Night Manager John Le Carre is once more the auteur du jour and his fans are in for a treat with this gripping Euro-trotting thriller about international espionage and dirty politics.

It stars Ewan McGregor and Naomi Harris as Perry and Gail, an ordinary British couple who are befriended in Marrakesh by a charismatic and larger than life Russian called Dima (Stellan Skarsgard).

It transpires he is the Russian mafia’s chief money launderer who seeks Perry’s help in passing on vital information to MI6 in exchange for sanctuary for his family and himself as they are about to be executed by the mob’s new boss Prince who is opening a new bank in London to launder money through.

The action takes the couple from Marrakesh to London, Paris, Bern and the French Alps in this smart slow-burning drama, which seemingly takes a dig at the number of Russian oligarchs and foreign billionaires buying up London with impunity.

As Perry’s British intelligence handler Hector (Damian Lewis) points out to his government bosses they can’t turn a blind eye because it’s billions being invested in the capital — “blood money is still blood money.”

McGregor is a maestro at playing the ordinary guy out of his depth and the perfect foil to Skarsgard’s flamboyant and superlative Dima, while Lewis is wonderfully intense and cagey as the maverick Hector who is obsessed with bringing down his corrupt former chief played slickly and smarmily by Jeremy Northam.

But it is Skarsgard who steals the film with an unforgettable performance. How will I ever erase the image of him striding naked covered in tattoos across a spa.

Director Susana White delivers an understated yet riveting cinematic adaptation of Le Carre with a compelling and intelligent screenplay by Hossein Amini.

For those of you feeling bereft after The Night Manager this is a must-see film.