Samantha Morton

In Minority Report (2002), Samantha Morton's Agatha makes the promise of predicting violence look less reassuring. Her presence directs our attention to the people supplying the predictions, rather than simply to the crimes they might avert. She does not need to compete with Tom Cruise's momentum to make that concern felt. We were disturbed by the precog scenes because Morton made the human cost of the system hard to put aside. The thriller remains tense, but we have more to worry about than whether a prediction will prove correct.

The breakthrough lead in Under the Skin (1997) was followed by Hattie, a largely silent role opposite Sean Penn in Sweet and Lowdown (1999). That part made particular use of her ability to convey vulnerability with little dialogue. Morvern Callar (2002) offered an enigmatic central character in the same year that Spielberg put her in a large-scale thriller. The subsequent work has continued across independent British and American films, studio supporting parts and television, rather than following a simple move from smaller films to bigger ones.

The reservation is about how films use that skill. In Minority Report, John Williams's music gives the thriller urgency, but its insistence can leave too little space around the performances. Morton has already made the concern immediate; we do not need the music to press it home. The later plotting also takes longer to explain than it should. Spielberg's film remains a strong recommendation, though we sometimes wished he would let us stay with the actors without quite so much assistance.

The useful thread through these parts is her willingness to let a character remain difficult to read without making us stop caring. It suits intimate character studies, but Minority Report demonstrates how much a busy genre film can gain from it too. Begin there, allowing for a thriller that sometimes explains more than either its audience or its actors need.