The Chamber (Cert 15, 88 mins) **

Starring: Johannes Bah Kuhnke, Charlotte Salt, James McArdle, Elliot Levey, Christian Hillborg.

MATS pilots his submersible craft, The Aurora, to the bottom of the Yellow Sea at the behest of a three-strong Special Ops team led by non-nonsense Edwards. The elite squad is supposedly looking to retrieve an artefact from the sea floor on the edge of international waters with North Korea. It gradually becomes clear that Edwards and her team have an ulterior motive for venturing hundreds of feet beneath the crashing waves. The submersible unexpectedly overturns and Mats and his shady passengers become embroiled in a fight for survival as the water rises and their air supply dwindles. Every second counts for the survivors as they turn against each other in fear, and search for a means of escape back to the surface. Set to a haunting score by James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers, The Chamber is a claustrophobic thriller, which marks the directorial debut of Ben Parker. A simple dramatic set-up, buoyed with possibility, slowly drowns in cloying sentiment and awkward dialogue as the cast tussle in briskly edited skirmishes. Kuhnke portrays an instantly likeable everyman, trapped in a nightmare scenario beyond his control. A hurried, blood-soaked finale is anti-climactic, leaving us with a deep sinking feeling.