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The Machinist is one of those few films which remind you that moving pictures on the screen are still works of art. Visually striking and thought provoking, each and every frame in Ben Anderson's masterpiece is beautifully shot it looks as though you were looking at a series of forehead-creasing paintings.

The narrative is taught as a string you find you need to relax those muscles you've been clenching for the last few scenes. This is a horror movie. Probably the most-talked about aspect of this film is lead actor Christian Bale's "horrific" transformation. He lost 63 pounds to play the role of a man who hasn't slept in a year method-acting-insane-a-la-Daniel Day Lewis convincingly. He doesn't need to act, just looking at his Holocaust-survivor body is excruciating enough.

In the end, the film's resolution, and ultimately the whole story, is simple enough. Although it may look as though Bale's Trevor Reznik is on a down-ward spiral to hell, this is about a man's journey to salvation.