Benedict Cumberbatch's '60s-set spy thriller The Courier has found itself a new UK streaming home.
The 2020 film is based on real-life events, as Russian intelligence colonel Oleg Penkovsky grows weary of the Khrushchev regime and decides to provide information to the CIA and M16 in the hopes of stopping nuclear war.
M16 (then called the Secret Intelligence Service) decided to use Greville Wynne, an ordinary businessman, to act as the intermediary.
While the plan initially goes off without a hitch, as Wynne flies under the Soviet radar, it starts to take a toll on him.
Following its airing on BBC Two last night (13 July), the film is now available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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The Courier has a strong 85% positive score from 215 critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with The Spectator calling it "a damn good, explosively tense story", while the London Evening Standard stated that "its best moments are haunting".
Over on IMDB, it's got a slightly lower but still impressive average score of 7.2 from 382 fan ratings.
"This movie provides an intense, claustrophobic experience," wrote one viewer, who stated that it was well-suited to watching on a small screen.
"One of Benedict Cumberbatch's best performances to date, which makes it one of the greatest acting performances period," wrote another, while a further review praised Conclave's Merab Ninidze and Superman's Rachel Brosnahan.
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Cumberbatch currently has a few new projects on the horizon, including the dark comedy The Roses, which features a stacked cast including Olivia Colman and Andy Samberg. It is due to arrive in cinemas on 29 August.
There's also the crime thriller Blood on Snow, in which Cumberbatch replaced Tom Hardy. This film doesn't yet have a release date.
The Courier is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.
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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
