Retreat

I don't understand the bad critics,it is a good movie. I watched it after I read the reviews here and was expecting something worse.I must say I was pleasantly surprised by Retreat. It is a psychological thriller,the acting is very good (Cillian Murphy is a remarkably good actor,but also Jamie Bell and Thandie Newton are a pleasure to watch)and the story kept me guessing until the end. Retreat slightly reminded me of 28 Days Later,but it is a totally different story and captivating in it's own way.I liked the pace and the atmosphere of the film,and I would recommend it to everyone interested in this genre. Retreat definitely deserves better critics and a better rating!

I had pretty high expectations for Retreat because:

 A. I'm a big fan of both Thandie Newton and Cillian Murphy.

and...

B. I like thrillers in general, and it's been a while since I've seen a good one.

And does it live up to those expectations? Not particularly. It's certainly a tense movie, with a menacing stranger showing up at the remote island vacation cottage of a couple, bringing with him frightening tales of a global pandemic. They mustn't leave and they must seal themselves away inside the cottage to avoid the certain death that outside contact and infection brings... according to him. But, is he telling the truth? Is the threat really the world outside, or the man in their home?

There's a twist or turn near the end that keeps Retreat from being strictly as predictable as my description might have lead you to believe, but whether that makes the story any better is up for debate. Personally, I found it to be somewhat underwhelming once it was all revealed. 

Retreat does keep you guessing about what to believe, to a certain extent, but I can't say that I "enjoyed" watching the movie. The characters are all flaws and bad decisions, with no real reason to invest in them and hope they survive whatever threat, be it viral or human, that may endanger them. 

The acting is nothing special,  thanks to a pretty pedestrian script that lacks any semblance of nuance. The tragedy that brings the couple to the cottage has no real relevance to the story, which makes it nothing more than pointless backstory. Their history is brought up in careful detail, only to never lead anywhere. Murphy's character is written to be such a weak and passive man that it borders on caricature and Newton's has two emotions, unhappy and afraid (though she still manages to be absolutely beautiful). Jamie Bell goes overboard on the menace and danger, when some ambiguity would have served both the character and story much better. 

This was definitely a flawed experience for me. I didn't dislike the movie, and as I said, it can be quite tense at times, but it just seemed off in several ways. The word "underwhelming" comes to mind.

One might think this movie was inspired by the Covid-19 pandemic, until they notice it was made in 2011. Married couple Kate and Martin find themselves stranded on their island retreat with a man claiming a deadly virus is spreading across the world. Is he telling the truth? That's the mystery presented by this movie. Kate and Martin must decide whether to listen and bunker down with this stranger or try to leave and risk the dangers of a possible pandemic. The frustration with this movie is how dumb Kate and Martin are. They can't seem to do anything right. Is this bad news bearing stranger a dangerous liar? Or is he a survivor trying to get some cooperation out of this helpless couple? Needing the answers to these questions kept me engaged until the end.

Could have been a 7, instead is a solid 6. The twist is impressive, don't believe it has been done before. The 2nd half is much better than the first, I'm glad I stuck with it.

Kate (Thandie Newton) and Martin (Cillian Murphy) go to the isolated Blackholme Island off Scotland to escape London. They were there back in happier times in 2002. They are struggling with marital problems about a miscarriage. The power goes out. Martin is injured while trying to fix the generator. They call Doug for help on the radio but they get no help. Then they find a bloodied unconscious man. The man claims to be Private Jack Corman (Jamie Bell) and that there is a deadly worldwide airborne flu. The couple is suspicious of the erratic Jack.

The trio try their best to make an intense psychological thriller. The main problem is that the movie has one tone and one gear. It's steady and unrelenting. Jack doesn't change. He starts off scary and stays there. It may be more compelling to start off sane and build to crazy. It's intense but it feels like a manufactured thing. It's not realistic that Martin believes anything Jack says. Jack is basically acting like a paranoid mental case. There is nothing to prove his case other than his word. The movie needs to give the audience the permission to believe in Jack but it never does.