Georgetown

The directorial debut of Oscar-winning actor Christoph Waltz is a true crime drama about the murder of a Washington DC socialite, the chief suspect being her ambitious (and significantly younger) husband. Waltz heads the cast as the charismatic widower, whose manipulative behaviour is revealed in a series of flashbacks charting his first meeting and subsequent wooing of bride-to-be Elsa Breht (Vanessa Redgrave). Meanwhile, his defence attorney (Corey Hawkins) tries to piece together events leading up to the fateful night. Based on the 2012 New York Times Magazine article The Worst Marriage in Georgetown, by political journalist Franklin Foer, the script by playwright David Auburn dissects the hierarchy and power games of the US capital. Sadly, this is often at the expense of fleshing out the motives of his characters, with Annette Bening in particular sorely underused as Redgrave's disapproving daughter. Waltz is the exception, though. He delivers a masterclass of charm with an undercurrent of evil, which brilliantly recalls his chilling role as a ruthless Nazi in Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds.