Even the title of this film is terrifying: IMPERIUM – 'English-speaking Neo-Nazi frequently refer to a "Western Imperium" as a theoretical future global empire following their political and philosophical views.' Unfortunately the theme of this film is based on true incidents as written by Michael German with Daniel Ragussis who also directs. It is a magnifying glass held up to the many organizations of racists who believe that all non- Caucasian people should be destroyed – the white supremacists, be they KKK, or any other of the many hate groups whose influence is being more intensely felt during these times. It is a difficult movie to watch but at the same time perhaps it is a film that more people should see to be aware of a threat to equality that abounds, especially since January 2017!

Idealistic FBI agent Nate Foster (Daniel Radcliffe) goes undercover to take down a radical white supremacy terrorist group. The up-and-coming analyst must confront the challenge of sticking to a new identity while maintaining his real principles as he navigates the dangerous underworld of white supremacy. He works in tandem with Agent Angela Zamparo (Toni Collette) and Tom Hernandez (Nestor Carbonell) to infiltrate various groups led by Tracy Aletts, Sam Trammell, Seth Numrich, Jasson Finney etc.

The concept of FBI infiltration may not be a new one, but when it is based on a series of true events is underlines the dangerous world we have created. The film is very long u the cast is strong and the action, while at time convoluted, is fast paced. Daniel Radcliffe does a star turn!

'Imperium's' main interest point is the subject matter, it's an important and relevant one, very hard-hitting and portraying it takes a lot of courage with the danger of heavy-handedness or bias. Toni Collette is a fine actress, have liked to loved a lot of her performances, and wanted to see how Daniel Radcliffe would fare in one of his most mature and most challenging roles.

Found 'Imperium' to be a worthwhile and interesting film but also an uneven one where potential is not completely fulfilled. Credit is due for taking on a difficult subject, which is not an easy thing to do, based on the real life experiences of Michael German, a real life FBI-agent, and there are many things to admire. With more focus and tightness 'Imperium' would have been an even better film, with much potential to be a very good even with many good things it is frustrating that the film for me was just decent.

Lets start with the positive. The look of the film is slick, stylish and suitably gritty, a perfect visual approach for the story. The soundtrack has pulsating energy yet is dynamic enough, the use of Brahms is inspired and will delight classic music fans (like me). Despite the director actually being inexperienced making a film, this is actually quite a confident directing job.

The script has tension and tautness, providing a good deal of thought and insight, while the story generally grips and has a suspenseful and bold feel to it, it's coherent too. Not everybody is going to like Daniel Radcliffe's performance, for me it's a strong contender for his best and shows how far he's grown as an actor. Fair play to him challenging himself. The cast generally did well, Tracy Letts being a standout.

Expected much more from Collette though, her character was not very interesting and gave her little to do and Collette comes over as uncharacteristically bland. Her chemistry with Radcliffe has some spark, too far and between, but the tension between Radcliffe and the supremists was far more convincing.

Did think that despite nothing being done disastrously a few elements were unevenly done. The script also can be heavy-handed and could have explored the subject in more depth at times, despite good intentions, and the story has some padding not always needed, a sometimes jumpy structure and plausibility can go out the window. The ending felt rushed and anti-climactic.

Concluding, interesting if uneven. Well done for trying. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Imperium is about the infiltration of white supremacist groups in the USA by young FBI agent Daniel Radcliffe. The film is a straightforward account of an Arabic speaking agent who makes his suspects feel at ease but really not going anywhere in the bureau.

Toni Collette is the supervisor who persuades him to infiltrate neo-nazi groups even though he has no training for deep undercover work. All he has to do is shave off his head and read Dale Carnegie's 'How to win friends and influence people.'

Like Costa-Gavras 1988 film 'Betrayed' the film tries to show a more human side to these supremacists although you also see the jerks as well. Some are family men, many see themselves as victims socially, economically or both. Unlike 'Betrayed' there is no tacked on love story.

There is a memorable scene by Tracy Letts who plays right wing radio shock jock Dallas Wolf, who admits he does not believe in this white supremacist, conspiracy nonsense, he just wants to make money and say things that his audience just laps up.

Radcliffe has the wide eyed innocence of an agent who is in over his head. I was far from convinced he was an Iraq vet who did classified WMD work. The story is based on true events though.