A slow, backwards day at the festival during which great execution managed to save some unoriginal material while some fairly unique material was torpedoed by poor execution. Located at both extremes of the spectrum, Retreat and Love each have their own merits and their own flaws. It's a shame that the former film succeeds thanks to some conservative screenwriting while the latter fails despite original ideas. That said, while first-time writer/director Carl Tibbetts will unlikely do much better than Retreat, first-time writer/director William Eubank has the potential to transcend genre boundaries and make a great career for himself if only he could overcome his initial lack of self-confidence as an author. Only time will tell if I am right, but I believe that one should keep a close look-out for both these guys and their future work.Retreat
Highly derivative narrative is fueled by three A-list actors in great shape and some solid direction focused on tension-building. While there are far too many twists near the end, the film is definitively worth a peak, especially if you enjoy tightly-wound thrillers based on dramatic composition.
The plot concerns a couple's retreat gone bad with the appearance of a zealous psycho who quickly takes over the destinies of the two protagonists. Asthmatic weakling Martin (Cillian Murphy) and his distant wife Kate (Thandie Newton) are "enjoying" the quietude of a secluded cabin on the uninhabited island of Blackholme when they are disturbed by the apparition of a young man in military attire who warns them of a rampaging pandemic affecting the world. Is the guy a complete psycho, as his increasingly erratic behavior seems to indicate, or is he simply shell-shocked from the horrors he has seen back on the mainland?
The entire narrative rests on this simple ambiguity and the masterful depiction of the ensuing tension, especially when firearms are involved. Despite some unnecessary exposition (focusing on a revelatory tale which writer Kate is currently working on), the film makes good use of the emotional crisis affecting the couple from the get-go in order to alienate all three characters from each other. And while Newton and Murphy do a great job of portraying the two incompatible halves of an unfit couple (the latter being perfectly cast as the impotent husband), it is Jamie Bell who takes the cake as the nutty stranger in charge of their reconciliation under fire.
The plot concerns a couple's retreat gone bad with the appearance of a zealous psycho who quickly takes over the destinies of the two protagonists. Asthmatic weakling Martin (Cillian Murphy) and his distant wife Kate (Thandie Newton) are "enjoying" the quietude of a secluded cabin on the uninhabited island of Blackholme when they are disturbed by the apparition of a young man in military attire who warns them of a rampaging pandemic affecting the world. Is the guy a complete psycho, as his increasingly erratic behavior seems to indicate, or is he simply shell-shocked from the horrors he has seen back on the mainland?
The entire narrative rests on this simple ambiguity and the masterful depiction of the ensuing tension, especially when firearms are involved. Despite some unnecessary exposition (focusing on a revelatory tale which writer Kate is currently working on), the film makes good use of the emotional crisis affecting the couple from the get-go in order to alienate all three characters from each other. And while Newton and Murphy do a great job of portraying the two incompatible halves of an unfit couple (the latter being perfectly cast as the impotent husband), it is Jamie Bell who takes the cake as the nutty stranger in charge of their reconciliation under fire.
THUMBS UP
Love
Esthetically riveting, with splendid art direction to boot, this intriguing repackaging of classic sci-fi fare gets lost in endless dialogues and a deafening "atmospheric" score. Read full review here.
THUMBS DOWN
