Honourable warrior takes on corrupt forces and triumphs because his heart is pure. It’s the template that launched a thousand films, many of them interchangeable yarns whether the specific genre is western, fantasy, or martial arts. In Redbelt, writer-director David Mamet applies his considerable talents to the theme with remarkable results.

Chewitel Ejiofor plays Jiu-jitsu instructor Mike Terry, a man whose firm principles result in financial problems and consequent stresses with his wife Sondra (Alice Braga). While fighters around him are profiting from involvement in mixed martial arts tournaments, Mike concentrates on running his school to the highest ethical standards. Those standards have a cost, and you know you’re in Mamet’s capable hands as he expertly sets about exploring what happens when the teacher’s world is put to the test on every front.

An improbable accident with a gun leads to catastrophic consequences as Mike and his blackbelts, sworn to uphold the honour of their dojo, uphold their morality in a world that’s seemingly too complex to deal with people wanting to do the right thing. But throughout it all, Mike sticks to his beliefs, and pursues them through to their ultimate test in line with a sentiment expressed early in the film: Mike doesn’t teach people to fight, he teaches them to prevail.

The good news is that Mamet is on fine form here. The plot hurtles down breakneck chicanes and doesn’t just zig when you think it’s going to zag: sometimes it takes you straight to zog instead. But Mamet’s hand is firmly on the tiller, and rather than baffle the audience with complexity for its own sake — see The Spanish Prisoner — here the twists are all in the service of a masterfully plotted and emotionally charged story.

At its heart this is a story as simple as the one outlined in the first sentence. But the execution is breathtaking, every new turn throwing up questions of morality and right action that Mike Terry must navigate expertly to even win the right to succeed, never mind actually accomplish what he sets out to do.

Not every plot element is convincingly resolved — for instance, what’s going on with the film star’s partner who orders a load of expensive fabrics from Mike’s wife; and Mamet regular Ricky Jay’s performance doesn’t convince on this occasion — but this really is first class filmmaking from a creator at the top of his game. Plus, perhaps unusually for Mamet, he knows when to shut up. As the film reached its conclusion, I was thinking ‘there’s absolutely nothing that can be said at this point’ and Mamet indeed chooses to say nothing, allowing the moment to have the breathing space it deserves.