Thomas Vincent

In Bodyguard (2018), the opening threat lasts long enough for waiting itself to become the ordeal. We were anxious because there was no reassurance that anyone had control. Thomas Vincent and fellow director John Strickland sustain that uncertainty across the series, allowing the actors time to show the effort of holding themselves together. We rate that patience: it makes the danger harder to dismiss as the next problem the plot needs to solve.

His first feature was Karnaval (1999), with The Hook (2004) and The New Protocol (2008) following before television became his principal work. The move took him through historical drama on Versailles (2015–2017) and into the tightly managed suspense of Bodyguard. He later directed the pilot of Reacher (2022) and the English-language action comedy Role Play (2024). That is too varied a list to reduce to action, even if suspense is where his contribution has been clearest to us.

Vincent's close camera and lens work keeps thriller scenes tied to the central character's experience. In Bodyguard, that approach suits actors who can make the effort of staying composed worth watching. Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes are the reason we stay with a series that can be exhausting, and the measured direction gives their work room. There is a useful modesty in this: Vincent does not need to hurry the scene to keep us uneasy.

Bodyguard is nevertheless Jed Mercurio's creation, and Vincent directed three episodes, so the praise needs sharing. The accumulating complications ask too much indulgence, and careful direction cannot make the plotting less cumbersome. Vincent is worth following for that control of suspense, provided the scripts give him people worth staying close to rather than simply more trouble to photograph. Start with Bodyguard for the tension and the performances, with some tolerance for the plotting.