East Sussex film-maker explores the dangers of the dark web in his latest movie

DarkGame (18), (1 hour 40 mins) from writers Tom George, Gary Grant and Niall Johnson and featuring Ed Westwick, Andrew P Stephen and Natalya Tsvetkova, is available on Prime Video. In the film, a determined detective is in a race against time to stop a twisted game show on the dark web where captives are forced to compete for their lives.

“We embarked on the film about two and a quarter years ago and originally the film was going to be called Russian Roulette. I knew Tom George and we used to bump into each other at the Cannes and the Berlin film festivals. We used to have a drink at the bar and say we should do a movie together one day. And I was on a location recce for my film Escape when he said to me ‘Are you around after you are back from your trip?’ I said ‘If it's to do a film with you, then yes, I am.’ He sent me the script. I read the first two pages and I thought I'm not going to do this film. The opening of the movie was a girl tied and gagged and bound and she is about to have her head cut off with a chainsaw. I just thought I'm not going to do this but then I got past the first two pages that were quite shocking and I realised that it had a lot more going on than this and I love the fact that there is this detective character in the piece as well.

“And I knew that Ed Westwick was going to be in it. I remember him from White Gold and I remember thinking that I couldn't take my eyes off this guy he was so good. I didn't realise then that he was already famous. I just remember thinking that this guy is going to go far!”

In the film: “There's this guy called The Presenter who has gone on the dark web which is a murky world which is real and on which there are all sorts of things going on and he is making a show that is attracting many millions of people. He has live executions on the internet. People are captured from the streets and forced to play a game of death. It could be any game but the loser is going to die.

“For me really this film is a big statement about where the internet is going. The internet has got its upsides. It's great but it's also got its dark side. I have got two boys and they can be watching something good but they are only ever just one click away from something really dodgy. And I swear that if we're not careful with what we're watching and where we're clicking then this is the kind of thing that could happen. I feel that this is a kind of warning film. We've got to be careful. Obviously, movies are an exaggeration. You have to exaggerate to make your point and to grab your audience and you need to do that to satisfy people. I believe that the number one thing in moving making is giving a satisfying watch. But the film itself is something of a warning.”