Set Me Free: Vol. II

Be warned, Set Me Free is a wrenching watch. It's a story so abhorrent and seemingly hopeless that there may be times you don't want it to go on, but within its tight confines Kris Smith, with a script by Max Rudd and Laura Belcher, finds warmth and hope. It is, against all odds, uplifting. Lauren (Nina Taylor) live in a lighthouse, owned by the people she claims to be her parents. To Lauren this is the entire world, where objects - Table, Rug, Wardrobe - are the only one of their kind but it's also her prison, a cell in which she's been kept for twenty years since she was kidnapped at the age of 1 by weird couple Graham and Marie Howard (Steve Carrell & Kim Waters). The brilliance of Kris Smith's creation is making us see these two worlds as one, Lauren's magic and horror, like oil and water, emulsifying into a twisted truth that helps both keep a grip on sanity. Smith's direction is astonishing, not just because he constantly finds new ways of claustrophobia, keeping the viewer trapped in there but surprising us all the time, but for the performances he wrings from his cast. Nina Taylor is so raw as to verge on unwatchable, the pain she conveys just too upsetting to sit with. A lot of the credit for that has to go to Smith. Set Me Free drags you further into darkness in the journey to find some distant light. It's a mark of how well Smith has told his story that by the end, which takes you to places once unimaginable, you'll likely be willing to go through it all again.

I watched this film with some trepidation, however it more than surpassed my expectations. Excellent acting, well written, well directed, well produced and very high production values for a low budget production. It reminded me of watching a BBC drama. "High praise" I here you say, but this feature is very deserving of it in my opinion. There were many good performances, but stand out performances from Nina Taylor as Lauren, Max Rudd as Ethan Wright and Ann-Marie Doggett as Rachel Boon really were the icing on the cake. I hope this movie and it's contributors get the recognition they deserve. 10/10 for an Indy project.

I watched this on youtube and thought it was superb. I hope this gets the recognition that it deserves.

I know one thing, I will never, ever forget this heartrending, unbelievably-acted 'movie' for the rest of my days. I'm just at a loss for words and struggling to describe how truly powerful and heart-grabbing this story was. I'll go so far as to say that if you don't cry, shed a tear, or feel the urge to weep profusely after (or while) watching this film, you don't have a heart. The main character (Nina Taylor) and the mother (Ann-Marie Doggett) steal the entire film/s. The beauty of Set Me Free is in its bare rawness, realness and universally relatable nature. What can I say? It tapped into something deep, deep, deep within me and just ripped my heart to shreds and had me in tears; sometimes tears of sadness, and other times tears of heavenly joy. It made me smile at times and even laugh. But most of all, it always had my eyes glued to the screen and my soul enthralled by what I was witnessing. This is one of the best, truly real stories ever told and one of the best uses of cinema I've ever seen. ...Try not to read much/anything about it before going in to see it (and yes, definitely catch it in a theatre near you ASAP). Go in and be engrossed and moved (in ways I can't describe) by this experience. 10/10 *Hands down* the best film of 2016, and the single best thing I've seen in years. :')

This is a thought provoking film that leaves the watcher with many questions about how they would feel if they were in the shoes of Lauren (Nina Taylor). Kris has invoked a sense of menace and outrage from the very start in the way that Lauren's life is controlled and how her innocence is betrayed by her parents time and time again. The characters portrayed by most of the actors were utterly believable with particularly strong performances by Nina Taylor, Steve Carroll and Max Rudd. I enjoyed Ann Marie Doggett's role as the busy housewife and the two investigating Police Officers Mark Wells and Jo Lay in their dogged battle with the overbearing stupidity of their superior officer. As the story unfolds we are treated to an insight into the machinations of a baying press core which again leaves questions in the mind of the viewer about how they would react in similar circumstances. When a film leaves you thinking about it in the following days, then it has worked and this film has certainly done this. I hope it reaches a wide audience as it deserves to be out there in the public eye. Though the subject of the film is disturbing and the action tugs at your emotions in ways that you may not like, it is at the same time extremely engaging. An excellent film that I have no hesitation in recommending.