Steven Knight's 2013 psychological drama Locke presents an unconventional showcase for Tom Hardy, who serves as the film's sole visible character whilst traversing from Birmingham to London primarily through telephone conversations. The production's constraint-based approach demanded Hardy carry the emotional weight of the narrative through voice work, facial expression and subtle performance shifts, with minimal reliance on traditional cinematic elements.

Hardy reflected on the experience as offering the creative experimentation typically found in student productions, but executed with the full apparatus and knowledge of professional filmmaking. He emphasised that the minimalist design freed the creative team to prioritise character authenticity and storytelling substance above elaborate production design, representing an atypical artistic gamble for a mainstream actor that ultimately demonstrated Hardy's capacity to sustain engagement through performance alone.