I’ve seen a lot of garbage trailers for probably garbage films that were slapdash attempts to cash in on being a Covid film about Covid made during Covid. I know I was growing weary of the Zoom reunions of shows long off the air exploring what their characters are doing in lockdown. The harder film and TV tried to be topical, the worse it got. All that said… Locked Down actually looks pretty fun, and I’ll approach with cautious optimism. Check out the recently released trailer here:
Locked Down is directed by Doug Liman (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Edge of Tomorrow), written by Steven Knight (Locke, Peaky Blinders), and stars Anne Hathaway, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ben Kingsley, Ben Stiller, Dulé Hill, Jazmyn Simon, Mark Gatiss, Mindy Kaling, Stephen Merchant and Lucy Boynton. Locked Down will premiere on HBOMax on 14 January.
It’s entirely that pedigree of talent that won’t make me dismiss this one outright. And that Covid is used as a framing device, but doesn’t feel like the whole point of the movie. Logan Lucky used a stock car race as a framing device for its heist, but it wasn’t a movie about racing.
Built around to immensely charming performers in Hathaway and Ejiofor, both of whom I will always enjoy, you have a supporting ensemble who are all quite deft at carrying a scene, but can work as part of an ensemble to really let the film tick. Not to reference Logan Lucky a second time, but this very much feels like a solid Soderbergh heist film. Take a fun premise, build a fun cast around it, and let everyone involved just go to town.
This film is not part of their grand plan of a symbiotic streaming and theatrical release schedule. This one is an HBOMax exclusive and will debut and live on the streaming platform. Disney+ may have had the showier launch in late 2019, but Warner is really maneuvering the ins and outs of the new streaming world the pandemic created for it, and is handling it very well. I’m excited to add this one into my queue.
Locked Down launches on 14 January as an HBO Max original.
The Empty Theatre 
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