Page Eight

Johnny Worricker is a veteran MI5 officer whose life is unsettled by the sudden death of his close friend and superior, Benedict Baron. Baron leaves behind a file containing information that could destabilise the service, and Johnny suspects the death was not as straightforward as it appears. At the same time, he meets Nancy Pierpan, a political activist who lives nearby, and their growing acquaintance complicates his position. As pressure mounts from within the organisation, Johnny is forced to leave both his job and his identity behind to pursue the truth.

The film is written and directed by David Hare, his third feature as director following Strapless and Heading Home. Bill Nighy leads the cast as Johnny, with Rachel Weisz as Nancy, Michael Gambon as Benedict Baron, Ralph Fiennes as Alec Beasley, Felicity Jones as Johnny's daughter Julianne, and Tom Hughes as Ralph Wilson. Produced by Heyday Films and Carnival Films with the BBC, it was made for television and set in London and Cambridge.

It holds a rating of 6.8 on IMDb from around 23,000 votes, a 6.6 on TMDB from a much smaller number of votes, and a critics' rating of 6.8 from 16 reviews, placing professional and audience assessments closely together. Page Eight was followed by two further films centred on the same character, Turks & Caicos and Salting the Battlefield.