Red Mercury (2005)

In the pulsating heart of London, three young Muslim men - Asif (Navin Chowdhry), Shahid (San Shella), and Mushtaq (Alex Caan) - find themselves embroiled in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the police. Suspected of terrorist activities, they hastily abandon their bomb-making operations and dart through the city's veins, desperate to evade capture. A clamped getaway car forces the trio into the Olympus Grill, an upscale restaurant brimming with unsuspecting diners. Cornered and with no way out, Mushtaq, the quick-thinking leader, decides to hold the affluent patrons hostage. The terrified hostages include the fiery restaurant owner Penelope (Stockard Channing), her waitress daughter Electra (Amanda Ryan), the middle-aged American Sidney (Ron Silver), the physiotherapist Amanda (Jacqueline Defferary), children's author Neil Ashton (David Bradley) and his family, and John (Clive Wood), a chemical company head with his mistress Janet (Simone Lahbib). As the hostages' lives hang in the balance, Sofia Warburton (Juliet Stevenson), a seasoned security services officer, takes charge of the police operation outside. She delves into the lives of the hostage-takers, piecing together profiles from scattered information. Shahid, the wayward youth turned devout, Asif, the brilliant Cambridge graduate forced to work in his abusive father's wine warehouse, and Mushtaq, the natural leader with a PhD in physics, all harbor a chilling secret. They possess red mercury, a lethal substance that can fuel a devastating dirty bomb. As the clock ticks and the stakes rise, Sofia consults her estranged husband Lindsey (Nigel Terry), confirming the terrifying potential of the red mercury. Inside the restaurant, tension spirals as the hostages grapple with the grim reality of their predicament. Yet, as the hours creep into days, a strange camaraderie begins to evolve, blurring the lines between captor and captive, and revealing the terrified, misguided faces behind the masks of terror.

Red Mercury is an action movie featuring Pete Postlethwaite.

Red Mercury is currently streaming for free (ad-supported) on Plex, Plex Player and Tubi TV.