Stephen Graham joins Javier Bardem in new psychological thriller hailed with 16-minute standing ovation

Stephen Graham is gaining a bit of a reputation for playing disturbed characters and a new film implies he might be doing the same again.

The British actor has gained serious notoriety in recent years for some superb performances, including on the Netflix mini-series Adolescence and the 2021 thriller Boiling Point, both of which were filmed using a one-shot technique.

So, it's clear that the Liverpudlian thrives under pressure and when the news broke that he'd be playing a serial killer in the new Apple TV series Nocturne, plenty of you will have immediately added it to your watch list.

Now that it's launched on the platform and you might want more from Graham in a sort of ominous role, then I have good news, because in February 2027, Bunker will arrive in cinemas.

The premise of the film sees Javier Bardem play a world-renowned architect who is asked to design a bunker for billionaire Paul Dano, which leads his wife, played by Penelope Cruz, to question their marriage (in the film, not in real life).

However, we also get introduced to Stephen Graham as the couple's neighbour, who builds his own back garden space which overlooks that of Bardem and Cruz, triggering intense paranoia from the married couple.

It's already getting some rave reviews ahead of its UK release in cinemas, with the audience at the Venice Film Festival giving it a 16-minute standing ovation back in September. It must be brilliant for anyone to risk damage to their hands by clapping for that long.

Director Florian Zeller with Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz (Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for BFI)

Speaking about the film at a Venice press conference, Graham explained: "For me personally, when I read the script, I was blown away by it.

"But it was the kind of working man's attitude towards his environment and in my country, the cost of living is going through the roof. It's kind of re-gentrification with the people that used to live in that area, and particularly where we set it in London. If you can't afford to live in the area where you grew up and your granddad grew up, where do you go? We had a home and now we can't afford to have that home, so where do we go?

"And with the context of what we're speaking about, what I loved was the ethical question within the context of the script," he added. "As human beings, without ethics, we have no future, so I really thought that was something powerful within the script."

While we don't know all the details about Graham's role yet, the trailer does give us an insight into his behaviours as an over-bearing neighbour, hinting at something far more sinister.

You can watch the trailer below:

Bunker was called 'riveting in all its obsessive-compulsive meticulousness' by Variety, while Deadline said that director Florian Zeller has 'created a scenario that ought to concern every one of us'.

Considering that we've heard previously about the 'doomsday bunkers' that other billionaires in today's society are developing due to concerns about society's collapse, it seems as if Zeller will address some very real issues in the film.

Bunker is scheduled for a theatrical release in UK and Irish cinemas on 19 February 2027.