Jama

This is a film that I got the chance to see thanks to the Raindance Film Festival. A screener was available and seeing that this was in the horror genre, which was enough for me. This is from the country of Slovenia, a country that I've never seen anything from before watching this. Other than knowing the title and matching up the information I've shared, I came into this one blind.

Synopsis: Con artists Kevin (Marko Plantan) and Mia (Lea Cok Rajcic), seduce and rob wealthy women. After mistakenly believing they've killed a seductress named Emma (Darja Krhin), they attempt to bury her in a remote forest. Emma awakens and flees, initiating a deadly game of cat and mouse where appearances are deceptive.

We start this with Kevin and Mia reconning their next target, Emma. She comes out of her large house and works out in her front yard. This turns on Kevin and in turn, Mia. They have sex in their hiding spot.

It is from here that we see their con. Mia steals Emma's purse while she watches a street performer with a guitar. She brings it to Kevin who returns it. He then asks her out on a date. While they're out, Mia breaks into Emma's house. The date goes well and the two come back, having sex in the car. This upsets Mia, who pulls Emma out of the car and hits her with a flashlight. It appears that she killed her.

This leads our couple to drive out to the woods. Kevin digs a hole while Mia stares at him. She's irate and drinking. He asks about her helping which causes a fight. They make an even worse discovery, Emma is gone. She's fled into the woods. They need to find and take care of her before it is too late. Emma doesn't sit idly by, she fights back. Our trio each have their own epiphanies during their isolation in these woods.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Now this has a simple story. This couple tries to con Emma. Mia gets jealous, attacks her and then they need to dispose of the body. If they don't, they're going to get caught. It is then about developing the characters and their interactions as everyone tries to survive this ordeal. There's a great setting here in the woods and I like the fact that they could be influenced by supernatural elements. This could also be seen as either descending into madness, drug fueled revelations or just enlightenment. That makes it entertaining since this is a recipe for being repetitive.

Let's then go about breaking down these elements further. Mia and Kevin have a good system going. They're targeting Emma who is wealthy. I'm not going to fault them there. Kevin takes his seduction too far and upsets Mia. I don't blame her there. I'm not sure if the boundaries were set up or if he's just taking advantage of a situation that isn't fleshed out. I don't think it is needed. What is interesting is that she doesn't fully blame Kevin. That feels misguided. We see as things progress that she does still loves him. Can't fault her there, to an extent. What is interesting out here for her, she sees an evil version of herself telling her to kill Emma. She also keeps getting turned around, returning to this tree with a symbol carved into it. It is interesting that Rajcic co-wrote this screenplay so she did have creative control here. I thought she had an interesting look about her and her performance was good.

There's a bit more I need to flesh out with Kevin. I think he's mostly in the wrong and is making amends by digging the hole. It isn't until he finally has had enough of Mia berating him that he speaks up. What is interesting with him is that he eats these mushrooms that I assumed were poisonous. Instead, they make him hallucinate. That made for good visuals. He also sees this forest entity that chases him up a tree. That makes me feel there's a theme about treating nature poorly and fighting back. It flirts with ideas of eco-horror without truly going into it. Plantain also helped with the writing so much like with Rajcic, he had creative control and did well in bringing his character to life.

The other star is Krhin as Emma. What is interesting there is that we don't flesh her out aside from her being rich. I love that her drive to survive kicks in. This turns her savage. We see her finding weapons from the forest and from items that she has. I loved that. The assumption would be that she's an easy target. Her fighting back was a good touch. I'll also credit Krhin's performance.

My last bit for the story then would be nature itself. They're in an isolated location. That makes it difficult to escape. This builds tension for Emma since she arrived in the trunk of a car. Mia also freaks out when she can't find the car keys. We see that Kevin gets hungry, pushing him to eat the mushrooms. There is this slight idea that nature is influencing things around him. I like the subtle use to it where it has a say but allowing events to play out. It is also unforgiving to an extent. There's also this idea of things that they're seeing. I believe it is everything they're going through causing these visions, but you can also read that this place has a forest entity that is influencing events as well. I appreciate this being left up to the viewer for sure.

All that is left then to explore would be filmmaking aspects. I thought that the cinematography was good in capturing where this is mostly set. The stage is set before isolating this trio in the woods. The framing was also good to capture that. We are limited in the effects used. What we got seemed mostly practically done. There could be CGI, but I didn't notice it so they integrated it seamlessly. The soundtrack also worked to help build the atmosphere. Sound design also worked in bringing the woods to life.

There isn't more to explore so in conclusion, this is a solid effort. We are getting elements that we've seen before. It is a simple concept that needs to be carried by good acting. I'd say that the performances by our trio were good. They bring their characters to life and develop them, which is all I can ask for. I'd say that it is also made well enough. They capture the isolated setting. The odd visions they have add a bit to give it more depth. Not necessarily the most original film I've seen, but being the first one I've seen from Slovenia, I enjoyed my time here. I would recommend it if you enjoyed the concepts used.

My Rating: 6.5 out of 10.