THIS is an exhilarating and heart-stopping edge-of-your-seat thriller, writes Aidan Ritchie

Tom Hanks stars as Captain Phillips, Captain of the Maersk Alabama container ship.

His ship is hijacked by Somali pirates led by Abduwali Muse (Barkhad Abdi).

This true story from 2009 will leave you in awe and imagining yourself in this terrifying situation.

The plot surges forward when the pirates overhear Captain Phillips talking on the radio that he has two skiffs approaching his container ship and he calls for immediate military air support (a clever bluff on his part).

One of the two skiffs abruptly turns back but the other is eager to hijack the biggest ship they have ever seen in these waters. Determined, they plough ahead to gain money and prisoners from this generous cargo.

As they approach in leaps and bounds, Philips increases his speed, red lining the function. This puts his ship, his men and himself at risk.

Suddenly a radio call comes in from the second skiff saying that this is just a routine check and they want to check everything on the boat and the Captain listens to this, his heart in his throat.

Taken by Somali pirates as their prisoners, there is no limit to what could happen. As the next day dawns, the Captain checks his radar only to see the pirates are fast approaching.

Then the Captain orders the hoses on the skiff and targets its prey like a cheetah targeting a wildebeest.

They approach to find that one of the hoses is broken and they head for their destiny. But what will they do with his ship?