Despair

I stopped watching this after the first few lines of dialogue.

"Looks like you've been having a good time". ??? It is not visible from her appearance, or surroundings.

"You know I don't like surprises"

Who could write such poor script?

Probably been written by some who hasn't been around kids, or doesn't have a family.

....Let's try this script writers...a little more realistic.

"Hello darling...."

"Hi Dad"

"Mummy O. K?"

"Yup, shall I bring anything?" before closing boot and entering abode.

Fell into the trap of assuming this may be a hidden gem because it was on a major streaking service, Amazon Prime, but wow was I mistaken.

I live in Scotland so was drawn to the location of the film. Don't be fooled by this, of the 3 main characters, none are Scottish.

The film starts with some pretty poor acting and needless introductions to pointless characters. The location and drone shots are good, but anything on the interior is borderlone excruciating to watch. The editing is poor with some almost seizure inducing cuts that serve no purpose to the narrative; if anything it only serves to tell the viewer that the interactions you are watching have been filmed in multiple takes, which must have been torture for the cast.

As many of the reviews state, this is a slow burner, but a slow burner for a dud firework. The story goes on with no real depth, the characters are boring and frustrating to watch, and the twist is so futile that it doesn't justify any of the previous 60 or 70 minutes of your wasted time.

I don't like to slate movies, but I don't recommend watching this unfortunately.

Especially created account to review this. I live in Ukraine and don't watch film in English often. But because Hank is originally was born in Ukraine I though I'd watch it. And I like it. Now everybody is making commercial films, and I like this because it's simple and good. Reminds me of classic storytelling from artists like Tarkovsky. You have to watch it and understand. People who say it's boring must be watching too much of modern films. Cinema is not just about super heroes! Well done, Hank!

The first thing I noticed about this British thriller was the IMDB rating, at time of writing we're talking 8.2. For those not in the know that's incredibly high and if it had more ratings it would be in the IMDB top 250!

A quick check confirmed that over 75% of the votes were 10/10, therefore the movie is shilled all the way to Antarctica and back!

Putting that aside is it any good? Well, that's a big no.

A British film but oddly with two non-British leads it tells the story of a couple spending time in their second home in the middle of the country. One day they find a woman freezing outside and bring her in only to gradually discover that she isn't what she claims to be.

An odd little film it's certainly a slow burner. Trouble with slow burners is that they a) Need to be engaging throughout and b) Need to build to something. Despair doesn't do either of these things and makes a for a lifeless dire effort that culminates in nothing but disappointment.

The cast do the best with what they've been given but in the end this is an incredibly dull film.

The Good:

Jagoda Kamov

The Bad:

Some poor writing

Lifeless

Watched on Amazon Prime. Despair is a slow burn psychological thriller, emphasis on slow. The film moves at a snail's pace, which wouldn't be a problem if it was an interesting film, but it isn't.

Dispair follows a couple in their holiday home in the Highlands during the winter. One day the couple find a woman nearly frozen to death, but all is not as it seems as the woman seems to have sinister motives.

Story wise it's decent but the execution is fairly bad. On a technical level the film doesn't perform well. Sound is muddy and fairly poor in parts. Cinematography isn't great, interior shots are noisy and ugly to look at but exterior shots look quite nice.

Acting is poor, performances feel amateur and wooden. Editing is also bad and the soundtrack is uninteresting.

Could have been decent but sadly isn't.