Flying Blind

In a tense world of racial profiling and questionable military ethics lands erotic political thriller Flying Blind, starring Helen McCrory as leading aerospace engineer Frankie. Soaring to the peak of her powers as a military drone designer, her successful yet single forty-something life suffers turbulence when she’s seduced by a younger politically-aware Algerian student. But are ardent attentions purely sexual or is there more at play in a paranoid post-9/11 world?

With its pressing themes of race, immigration and fear there is enough of an earnestly told story here to get this film off the ground but, sadly, a lacklustre screenplay ultimately lets it down. With very little in the way of visual storytelling to build tension and pace, sex scenes arrive like an unelicited crotch grab during a quiet nap; and the drama is often limited to people talking to each other agitatedly in different rooms.

Enough good stuff is on show, however, to qualify Flying Blind as a decent watch. First-time director Katarzyna Klimkiewicz draws out a strong performance from the very watchable McCrory and doubles as her own director of photography to give the film a slick sheen and intelligent compositions. But the lack of storytelling nous inhibits her debut from transporting the viewer anywhere exciting, erotic or emotional. [Danny Scott]