Let’s be honest – whenever you sit down to watch a British film, you’re always hoping for something as good as 28 Days Later, Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, or Shaun of the Dead, but in your heart of hearts you know that it’s almost certainly going to end up being a big pile of wank, like Twin Town.

In Bruges is your reward for faithfully sitting through all the insufferable bollocks that the British film industry has churned out over the years, it’s a rare nugget of gold hidden at the bottom of a barrel of stinky turds. The film slipped largely unnoticed into cinemas earlier this year, and disappeared off the radar just as quietly – which is a real shame since it’s every bit as good as anything Danny Boyle or Guy Ritchie have produced.

The story of this dark, stylish comedy revolves around a couple of Irish hit-men (Brendad Gleeson and Colin Farrell) sent to hide out in Bruges after a job goes wrong in London. Much of the film’s strength lies in the chemistry and banter between Gleeson’s ageing hit-man with a heart and Farrell’s Father Dougal meets Vincent Vega rookie assassin, but there’s a lot more to it. The script is realistic but entertaining, the characters are both believable and enjoyable to watch, and the story manages to be intriguing and surprising right up to the end, but without relying on the endless barrage of convoluted plot twists that most thrillers seem to made of these days. Furthermore, Clémence Poésy is well fit.

Watch this film, you won’t be disapointed.