Cargo

I watched this movie without knowing what it is about. It appears to be pretty watchable though I didn't find the main character of the movie much. He came across as a dubious character who has no respect for the country he is visiting, he steals and he lies. Then he gets himself in trouble, doesn't have enough money to make his way home and stowaway in a cargo ship. So, the story begins. For about an hour, I was wondering whether this is a horror movie or a ghost movie or maybe about bad human beings. Won't give a spoiler here but just a warning that I found it pretty slow and frustrating in the development of the plot and couldn't help fast forwarding. Overall, it's entertaining and watchable enough through not entirely rewarding.

One of those films that has a lot of impressive things and other things that could have been done better. One of the things that Cargo has in its favour is that it looks great, the scenery is beautiful, the ship is like a character of its own, the lighting has a haunting effect and the photography and editing have a tautness and eeriness about them. The music also has an eerie quality while not making things too obvious, the first half of the story at least is very engaging and suspenseful as well as tightly paced, the dialogue is smart and intense at this point too and Peter Mullen and Daniel Bruhl are very well-cast, very brooding. In fact the cast is solid with nobody really disgracing themselves. The second half is not quite so good, it has its intense, suspenseful moments and the film is still well made and acted sure. But it also does come rather confused and even for a thriller things felt under-explained, granted thrillers can leave things open for interpretations and leave a lot of questions but for some reason Cargo didn't feel very complete at the end of the day. The dialogue becomes stilted by this point, the pacing loses its tightness and becomes plodding and Cargo does end on a banal note. The characters are relatively interesting in the first half and mostly for the second half but the viewer's frustration at Chris' actions increase more and more until reaching boiling point towards the end. Overall, a well-made film with some impressive things but a lot of the second half leaves one short-changed. Not plain-sailing but not a ship-wreck. 5/10 Bethany Cox

I picked this up for a fiver in HMV after browsing the DVD section. I was drawn by the box and thought it was a horror. I did not read all about its's awards etc and thought it was an out and out horror.

It is not - it is a slow burning thriller.

As the film went on I started to emphasise with the main character. What would I do in his shoes - was it right to keep your head down and say and do nothing.

I thought all the characters were played well although I thought the captain played by Peter Millen, from my neighbouring town Peterhead, could have been a little more menacing and not so much brooding - it looked though he was in physical pain rather than emotional. Special mention to Gary Lewis and Samuli Edelmann. Good character actors with something simmering below the surface.

Well worth a look.

A dark and brooding maritime thriller, desperate people on the edge of society and a ship with dark secrets far out at sea. This is how I would sum up this film, it's all you need to know. If you want me to flesh it out some more it's about a young man who hides on a cargo ship to get back home, but he doesn't know he's going to find so much more than a free ride.

You don't often see gems like this. I saw it at the Raindance Film Festival. Having no idea what it was about, I just needed to fill a gap between two films that I did want to see. I was so gripped that I missed the following film. Dare I say this film is faultless? Dark, moody and understated. Acting brilliant, lighting superb etc etc. There are some unusual, non standard plot twists that I like to have in a film. This is not the usual Hollywood script and treatment and so much the better for that. The suspense is held wonderfully well and there is no padding, and no overlong reaction shots dragging on the narrative. And I almost forgot the Music/Sound effect work, I have never, ever heard that done so well, Oscar? On an independent? Not a hope. Beautifully merged to jar your senses, this is great.