Keira Knightley returning to big screen for political thriller Official Secrets

Hollywood actress Keira Knightley is returning to the big screen for political thriller Official Secrets.

The Aftermath star will be playing Katharine Gun, an intelligence translator for the British government who gained notoriety by becoming a whistle-blower and leaking information that exposed the illegal spying operation between America and Britain.

The aim of the operation was to push other members of the UN into voting for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. A leaked document was later published to The Observer, causing public outrage.

IFC films shared the first trailer for Official Secrets via their Twitter account with the caption, “In the name of truth, she risked everything. #OfficialSecrets tells the gripping true story of Katharine Gun, a British Intelligence specialist who blew the whistle on an int'l conspiracy.”

It's already a pretty intense watch, which gives us a taste of what's to come.

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Katharine was arrested and charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act as a result of her leak, hence the name of the film. In the trailer, we see Katherine engaging in some intense interrogations following her breach.

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To up the drama even more, Katharine’s husband Yasar Gun (Adam Bakri) is a Turkish refugee, who the government attempt to deport in light of her actions.

The film has a pretty stellar cast, with Matt Smith, Ralph Fiennes, Matthew Goode, Tamsin Greig and Poldark’s Jack Farthing starring alongside Keira on the project. It’s directed by Gavin Hood, who is best known for his work on Oscar-winning film Tsotsi.

Official Secrets has received praise at Sundance Film Festival in the US. The film is due to arrive in UK cinemas on October 18th, which gives us a good reason to get excited about autumn. It’ll be here before we know it!