“You’re a child. It’s why you’re so fucking scary!” trembled the personal physician to Idi Amin. A clear assessment of a brutal dictator under whose rule, hundreds of thousands of Ugandans disappeared or died. Flash-back several years and a young doctor arrives in search of African adventure. Amin had recently assumed control of Uganda when circumstance throws the men together. Mutually attracted, a business relationship is formed as the Scotsman, seduced by the power of office and the power of man, links his destiny with that of the military strong-man. Ill-equipped for the madness that quickly engulfs him, the doctor finds it impossible to say goodbye.

This is a substantial shift from the Oscar winning director's Touching The Void, a stomach-churning documentary about Mt Everest. Yet the formidable sense of narrative timing that made Void unforgettable, gives The Last King of Scotland its power. For this is a sensational historical thriller anchored by two commanding performances; McAvoy as the adventuring doctor, Whitaker as the formidable dictator. Connected by a sense of the other’s strength, it is the same qualities which ultimately divide them. Amin’s paranoia is such a corrupting force that the doctor is left floundering between decency and self-delusion. It’s fascinating to watch.

Couched in a familiar history lesson about the evils of vice, The Last King of Scotland is a little thin in places though rousing direction and snappy editing compensate for any shortcomings. By film’s end, events have turned a peculiar kind of nerve-shredding violent. And with eyes now firmly on the malicious General, scary doesn’t really begin to describe the dreadful fear that Whitaker generates.

// COLIN FRASER