Above Suspicion (2019)

Directed by: Phillip Noyce | 104 minutes | action, biography | Actors: Emilia Clarke, Jack Huston, Sophie Lowe, Johnny Knoxville, Austin Hébert, Thora Birch, Karl Glusman, Kevin Dunn, Brian Lee Franklin, Omar Benson Miller, Chris Mulkey, Brittany O’Grady, Luke Spencer Roberts

‘Above Suspicion’ by director Philip Noyce (known for ‘Patriot Games’, ‘Sliver’ and ‘Rabbit-Proof Fence’) is a film adaptation of a true story based on a book by Josep Sharkey. Who is above power, in other words, who is above all suspicion? That’s what this movie is about.

Young married FBI agent Mark Putnam (Jack Huston, “The Irishman”) is sent to the mountain town of Pikeville, Kentucky, on a drug case and hunt for a local bank robber. He soon crosses paths with Susie (Emilia Clarke from “Game of Thrones”), who sees poster boy Mark as a means of escaping her miserable existence.

Susie becomes Mark’s informant and they have an affair, but it all ends badly for both of them. Pikeville is, as Susie describes it: ‘A city where you end up again, in the lowest of all valleys’. Also a town where – after the mines have been closed – there is only money to be made in the funeral industry and/or in the sale of drugs.

Living with her two children and her ex-husband Cash (a stereotypical role of Johnny Knoxville), who occasionally lectures her, Susie tries to keep her head above water through drug trafficking and benefit fraud. Through Susie, Mark gets the “neighborhood bank robber” in handcuffs, but he no longer needs her for the larger drug case. Susie becomes persona non grata in the small town when she testifies in a lawsuit. Desperately, she still tries to keep in touch with the now relocated Mark. When she confesses that she is pregnant with him, all plans fall apart. Yes, that’s what you get when you get involved with someone who has nothing to lose. But above all, stick to the good advice: ‘Don’t sleep with the informant’…

The British Emilia Clarke convinces in the lead role. She uses a perfect Southern accent and is the star of the film. Jack Huston lives up to the term ‘poster boy’ in terms of looks, but his acting is a bit flat. Nevertheless, ‘Above Suspicion’ is a movie worth watching. The setting is spot on and the film score also contributes to the dingy atmosphere.