Director: Sean Cain
Year: 2020
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Following an argument with her boyfriend, a woman taken by a group of criminals out into the mountains finds shelter with a lone man in a cabin nearby where he tries to protect her from the relentless group trying to get her back at all costs, forcing him to protect her from their more ruthless tactics to get away alive.
Review:
On the whole, this one was a pretty decent and enjoyable effort. Among the more enjoyable aspects here is the film’s great setup that drops us into the situation quite early on. By showing the girl arriving at the cabin eaten, bruised and bloody with an obvious distrust of the people who show up after her within a short amount of time after starting, there’s a fine immediacy to the events at play which is rather fun. This then turns into a thrilling siege effort where their attempts to take her back results in some enjoyable tactics on both sides trying to unnerve the two to lower their defenses inside the cabin and then holding off the intruding group outside. As there are a fine build-up and escalation here at the idea of these tactics and fortifications failing them and causing the criminals to try various invasion plans, this section is highly enjoyable in getting this off to a nice start.
There’s also the film’s incredibly fun second half where the intruders’ become far more cruel and vicious in their desire to get her out of the cabin. As we get an idea of their barbaric streak not only by how they interact with each other but how the two treat the accomplice, the resulting sequences inside the cabin featuring their defensive plans and tactics that are put in play result in some fine action here with the series of traps that they setup or the series of brutal, bloody brawling around the house. With the encounters here resulting in some pretty realistic situations with her growth in character from a weak, timid and afraid of everything by the situation into a tougher, more assertive person that sparks a change in personality, there’s a fine connection here which works for the film and gives it a lot to like.
There are a few minor issues here. One of the bigger flaws is the seemingly bizarre and random inclusion of getting the boyfriend back into the picture as this whole scenario makes no sense. The idea of contacting him for help in getting her out of the cabin is ludicrous and comes off clumsy due to the suddenness of bringing it up out of nowhere, much like the fact of her willingness to listen to him and entertain the idea of listening to him. As well, the finale here runs a bit too long for its own good, requiring far too many characters to still be alive who really shouldn’t simply to again carry home how much she’s changed from the experience and seeming to go on far too long when it didn’t need to. Since this provides some weak effects on top of that, these are the film’s only problems.
Overview: ***.5/5
With some enjoyable elements and not too many flaws, most of which aren’t that detrimental anyway, there’s a lot to like here that makes his one quite enjoyable for the most part. Give this a shot if you’re a fan of the style or looking for a light, breezy genre effort while those who aren’t too fond of this type of film should go in with some caution.
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