Black Sea is a tense and thrilling addition to the submarine movie sub-genre, led by a charismatically gruff Jude Law and the taut direction of Kevin Macdonald.

As many a heist film has already proven, men will go to extreme lengths to attain riches. But how many have used a submarine? That is the premise of Black Sea, a Kevin Macdonald directed heist-at-sea thriller where the discovery of Nazi gold trapped in a WWII German submarine off the coast of Georgia leads to a plan to secretly recover the bounty.

Leading the expedition is Robinson (Jude Law), a recently made redundant submarine captain whose loss of family and career has made him a bitter and angry man willing to risk it all for the reward of millions. Law has been on a tear of great character roles of late, with his portrayal of Robinson his darkest and most imposing yet, complete with a tough Scottish brogue that when turned up to 11 will demand your attention.

With a mysterious backer providing the funds to acquire a beaten up rusty Soviet era submarine and a half British, half Russian crew made up of with the kind of vagrants you wouldn’t trust to split a pack of chips let alone millions in gold, Robinson and his crusty band of seamen (stop your sniggering) head down into the dark abyss with gold, sweet gold on their minds.

The title Black Sea holds multiple meanings, from the Southeastern Europe / Western Asian geographical location in which the film is set, to more specifically the maddening depths that men will succumb to in the attainment of wealth. Macdonald successfully ties the psychological tension with the physical, using the tight confines of a submarine setting rather masterfully, squeezing each drop of tension and expertly pacing every plot twist in Dennis Kelly’s screenplay.

Of course the submarine movie is a virtual cheat sheet in obtaining easy thrills, such is the nature of a sub-genre where anything and everything can go wrong (and often does). Yet thanks to the performances of Law and a rather good supporting cast (Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn) and the direction of Macdonald (one of the most reliable filmmakers working today), Black Sea is one of the better films of its kind, with raw emotion plus high stakes  thrills equating to quite an enjoyable thriller.