I was hoping the opening scene was not an indication of what we would see when we got to the main characters. The acting is horrible out of the gate. Sam Nisbett as Tom is bad just talking to his wife and again when he dies. At one point he reacts strongly to his wife's statement before she has said the words that cause the reaction.
Could Laura's appearance early in the film be any more geeky and plain Jane? Obviously there is some beauty in there, but they go overboard in trying to mask it. Sarah Navratil's acting is forced and stiff. She's obviously trying, but it just doesn't come naturally to her.
When Oliver first wakes up after his injuries, Paul D. Masterson doesn't act at all like someone that the others were just so worried about surviving. He appears normal, but nonchalant about what he is about to attempt. Even well after that, he just moves like someone who is perfectly healthy. This is true even in his physical therapy. He also doesn't physically show any of the emotion that his words convey. Later when circumstances and conversation is more normal, Masterson does better capturing that.
Sandra Rice is also stiff delivering lines. I do have to hand it to her that she did a good job of keeping a straight face, but not quite, when she sees his facial scars. The direction is poor in this scene because it took me three takes to realize when Oliver was showing his body scars. The angle made it hard to see.
Production is poor, especially the sound. The video isn't too bad.
The story is delivered very badly. The setup doesn't ring true as events leading up to Oliver actually coming to the cottage just don't make sense. And I'm betting that this is based on a short story because there are a lot of visuals and scenes that are obviously crammed in to fill time.
There is an absolutely incomprehensible segue later in the movie. You'll know what I mean if you watch that far. It's not that it is a surprise twist. The transition just makes no sense. One minute they said one thing and the next minute the results were the opposite.
There is a bit of a twist even later, but it was a slow journey getting there, even in a 90 minute movie.
