SHOCKING is definitely one word that can describe this film - and unexpected would probably be the second to spring to mind.

Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) seems to live the perfect life with his wife and their two children in the small, peaceful town of Millbank, running a friendly diner.

That is, until he's plunged into the media spotlight after killing two men who attempt a vicious robbery in his diner one night.

From that moment his family is under threat from a gang of mobsters who claim Stall is in fact an ex-associate of theirs from Philadelphia, rather than the quiet, peace-loving family man his friends and family know.

The film works in two parts - the mystery behind whether Stall is who he says he is, and the fact that both his family and the audience are forced to challenge their own views on the violence that becomes increasingly central to the film.

Directed by David Cronenberg, the film contains plenty of controversial violence and graphic sex scenes. But the context in which they are placed makes every moment necessary to get the point across and just the right amount of shock-factor to say something important, rather than be shocking for the sake of it.

Mortensen plays his role well, creating an equally troubled and worrying character, and his wife (Maria Bello) is a great supporting female. But first prize for acting has to go to Ed Harris, the out-of-town mobster with a score to settle and a scary looking eye!

A History of Violence will probably not be the film you expect when you watch the first few scenes - it will probably be better. So if you can handle coarse, brutal violence on top of a decent storyline, this is the one to watch.

ECB