DVD & Blu-ray review: Southcliffe (15)

Sean Durkin DVD (240mins)

“It's weird, alright,” maintains Rory Kinnear's jaded TV reporter who reluctantly returns to his Kent hometown to cover the gun massacre wreaked by his former schoolmate (Sean Harris, excellent). Channel 4 has been pummelled in the ratings of late, however Tony Grisoni's fiercely intelligent Southcliffe is the best drama they've screened in a fair while. The acting is extremely robust, especially from Shirley Henderson and Eddie Marsan's victims, in this quietly harrowing, uncompromising drama, which outlines the “reasons” for the carnage. Understated and haunting television.