chriscoates

It's a mess. And it's a real shame.

The opening 20 minutes or so are very strong and you think you're in good hands. While the film is (reasonably) low-budget the visuals are good throughout (as is the sound design) and the premise is pretty intriguing - you don't know where the story is going and you want to know more (those first 5 minutes or so are particularly effective). Clearly, much time and effort has gone into the presentation of the whole thing.

But as things progress real weaknesses begin to show. The main bulk of the story happens over a few days and during this time several events occur that would shake a city, let alone a small town. Yet we're not even given the sense that the community is even aware that these things have happened; there's absolutely no gravity to them.

And as the film goes on more and more is obviously demanded of the actors, the director and the script in order to sell the escalating events to the audience - but all these things are seriously lacking (with the exception of Chukwudi Iwuji who plays the cop; he's genuinely impressive and the real standout here).

Immediately after being subjected to something shocking and brutal, characters will behave and talk in ways that seem muted and unbelievable (it's partly the writing, partly the direction). Occasionally some scenes, tonally, skew off in directions that seem weird and out of place (there's a couple of scenes that feel like they're been yoinked out of the Friday the 13th franchise and just dropped in here and they don't work).

Some of the supporting characters are clearly played by non-actors. This is only a little distracting in the first half, but later the film really leans on some of them - and they're not able to do what they need to do. Ultimately none of this matters as the endgame is completely broken. If the script had delivered all of this would be forgiven.

The writing is decent until it really needs to get hold of the audience and communicate just how frantic, oppressive and urgent things are supposed to be getting - and it's then that we find the film doesn't know how to convincingly do these things. More than that - it just starts getting silly.

And as we approach the end of the film it just unravels into a daft mess and the sense of mystery and intrigue gives way to a series of tiresome twists that aren't surprising or involving. Instead be prepared to be bemused and a little bored.

There was real promise here, but a very good start makes the inept final act feel even worse than it usually would.

Technically it's generally very good with an assured sense of style and it will be interesting to see what the director does next. Hopefully someone will cast Chukwudi Iwuji in something befitting his talents - he deserves to be in something better than this.

Disappointing.

A successful Science-Fiction author is invited to an idyllic Spanish island to talk about his work at the behest of a mysterious organisation. What should be a pleasant workman's holiday turns into something more sinister when people start committing suicide for unknown reasons - the only clue is that it is somehow all connected to his first book, that he wrote years earlier.

It sounds like an interesting premise, and it is, but although the first few minutes seem promising the leaden direction and pedestrian script ultimately make this a difficult 90+ minutes to sit through. Characters regularly act in unlikely, bizarre and occasionally unexplainable ways for no other reason than it helps to advance the story. This is evidence of the real problem with the film - the story is striving for big moments of suspense, mystery and danger but it is not able to convincingly weave them together into something that works well.

Such problems could be partially forgiven if it had all been building to something worthwhile. The finale is supposed to be thought-provoking and enigmatic and can be interpreted in two ways - unfortunately both are rotten. One interpretation will have you rolling your eyes in yet more disbelieving disappointment and the other lacks any sense of drama and suspense. Either way, the ending plays as uncommitted and ham-fisted.

Ultimately the only things to recommend here are the actors, who are decent, and the score, which is very good; but these do not come close to atoning for the myriad problems that run through the story and the way in which it is told. Disappointing.