Director: John Hyams
Year: 2020
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Plot:
Moving to a new city, a woman’s repeated encounters with a strange man eventually lead to terror when he kidnaps her and holds her hostage, but upon a daring escape she finds herself lost in the surrounding forest he held her and must try anything she can to escape his clutches alive.
Review:
This one ended up being the very definition of a mediocre genre effort. When it works, this is due to the exceptionally well-done suspense of the situation getting this one going at a fine rate. The first few encounters to bring them together are somewhat innocent enough but carry enough of a menacing air to set up something in the future, while the scenes of her being held hostage and trying to escape give a rather frenetic energy that’s quite enjoyable. The back-and-forth games in the forest aren’t bad either and keep this one moving along as the expected series of events play out that require bringing in outside forces unknowingly into the struggle which allows this one to prolong itself into the stellar finale that has the most to like. Finally getting the chance to go one-on-one in a brutal, extended series of battles where everything comes together in a sense of catharsis that offers up quite a lot to enjoy, really holding this one up the most.
On the other hand, there’s no getting around the fact that this is an exceptionally cliched and overly-familiar story. There’s really nothing new here about this, from the setup of the person being targeted and then kidnapped to the killer holding them against her will and finally the resolve to escape which are all routine and par for the course with these kinds of films. This takes a lot of the impact out of what happens as it just feels like your regular run-of-the-mill genre effort without much deviation or change giving this a by-the-numbers feel. It also doesn’t help that the main villain here is a weak, pathetic individual who doesn’t strike fear or intimidation of any kind, being so nondescript to hide in plain sight but completely unconvincing as a psychopath capturing and holding women hostage that it seems unbelievable no one has challenged him physically before which makes for an underwhelming and nonthreatening captor. These are what hold this one back the most.
Overview: **.5/5
While there’s plenty of likable qualities featured here that make this a competent, well-done effort, the routine nature and laughably inept villain hold this one down into just being a rather mediocre film. Give it a look if you enjoy these kinds of films or find this one intriguing, while those who are turned off by the flaws or don’t appreciate the genre won’t find much to sway them with this.
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