A very tense and gritty crime thriller movie is on TV tonight

Stephen Porzio

We’d rank it in the higher echelon of modern gritty British crime films.

Our TV movie pick for tonight (Wednesday, 19 June) is Villain, the very tense and gritty 2020 British crime thriller.

Starring Craig Fairbrass (Avengement, Cliffhanger, Rise of the Footsoldier), he in the film plays Eddie – a man just released from jail after serving a ten-year sentence.

Determined to leave the crime life behind, reconnect with his daughter (Izuka Hoyle) and return to managing his family’s London pub, he finds that his now drug addict brother Sean (co-writer George Russo) has not been taking care of the bar – letting it become seedy and decrepit.

It soon becomes clear that Sean has also accrued a large debt to some very nasty gangsters who want to take control of the pub as payment.

As such, Eddie finds himself pressured to break the law to protect his brother and bar.

The crime thriller was directed by Philip Barantini, who would go on to make the acclaimed movies Accused and Boiling Point.

And we would argue Villain is also worth a look, thanks to Fairbrass’ commanding lead turn, the film’s sense of authenticity and its story which grows only more and more dark as it reaches its conclusion.

In fact, we’d place the movie amongst the higher echelon of modern gritty British crime flicks alongside Avengement, Bull, Dead Man’s Shoes, Hyena, Kill List and Muscle.

Villain is airing on TV tonight on the channel Legend at 10.55pm. It is also streaming on Netflix in Ireland and the UK right now.

Here are the other movies airing on TV tonight:

The Bourne Supremacy – Sky Showcase – 9pm

Matt Damon returns in this brilliant spy thriller sequel.

Hitman – Film4 – 9pm

The 2007 action video game adaptation starring Timothy Olyphant.

Mojave – Legend Xtra – 9pm

From the writer of The Departed comes this odd thriller about a cat-and-mouse game between a troubled Hollywood film director (Garrett Hedlund) and a homicidal drifter (Oscar Isaac) that he meets in the desert.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout – Film4 – 10.50pm

For our money, the best of the Mission: Impossibles.