It takes a week for the Transsiberian railway to complete its epic trek from Beijing to Moscow. Brad Anderson’s spectacular, twisty thriller (the welcome follow-up to his EIFF 2004 hit The Machinist) follows two of its passengers through astounding landscapes – and into more extreme peril than any tourist brochure could have warned. If our chief protagonist initially seems to be bluff, cheery farmboy Roy (Woody Harrelson), it soon emerges that it’s his quiet photographer wife Jessie (Emily Mortimer) who will guard the secrets of the story to come. Russia is a very different place than it was when Roy – a keen trainspotter – took the trip as a student, and the replacement of Communist dogma with corruption-riddled free enterprise has unforeseen knock-on effects for the couple.

Always excellent, though too often confined to supporting roles, Mortimer truly shines here, with a nuanced and clever portrayal of a woman whose actions are increasingly informed by her dark past (which Roy happily assumes is far behind her). When the dangerously charismatic Carlos (Eduardo Noriega) boards with his beautiful young girlfriend Abby (Kate Mara), Jessie is drawn to both, and a marital indiscretion seems to loom. But the true threat that Carlos poses turns out to be more complex – as does Jessie’s interaction with him. The ambiguity of these characters, and the sheer authenticity with which Anderson’s brilliant cast portray their panic, uncertainty and guilt, serve as a piercing reminder of just how flat the characterisation customarily is in large-scale, starry thrillers. (Not that there’s any corresponding compromise on flashy visuals or big scenes: brace yourself for the breathtaking overhead shot of a snowbound head-on rail collision!)

With the peerless Sir Ben Kingsley on hand as a menacing Russian cop and truly staggering photography, by the excellent Spanish cinematographer Xavier Giménez, Transsiberian grips the attention on every level: as visual extravaganza, performance masterclass, Hitchcockian psychological conundrum and high-octane thriller.