Direct Contact

Direct Contact has quietly become one of the more dependable crime dramas currently available in the US on Amazon Prime Video and fuboTV. It says what it needs to say in one sitting, no filler. A 4/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Dolph Lundgren leads a cast that carries the story without ever feeling mechanical. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on Amazon Prime Video.

Direct Contact arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. The plotting in Direct Contact is tight enough that the twists feel earned rather than assembled. An imprisoned ex-US Special forces operative in Eastern Europe, is offered his freedom and money to rescue an American woman, who has been kidnapped by a ruthless warlord. But, shortly after freeing her discovers that the kidnap story was just a ruse to bring her out into the open. Dolph Lundgren and Gina May lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 2009. Direct Contact is at its best in the quiet scenes between the plot beats, where the character work actually happens. There is real craft here, even in the moments that do not fully land.

Viewers who think they have seen every crime drama tend to find Direct Contact proves them wrong. If you have run out of similar titles to watch, this is a strong next pick. The complete film is available and best experienced without too much prior knowledge of where it goes. Dolph Lundgren anchors it, but the writing does the real work. If you are going to commit to one crime drama this month, make it this one.