Director: Billy Hanson
Year: 2023
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
After a disastrous mission gone awry, an elite sniper team tasked with taking out the leader of a Ukranian terrorist squad on the Russian border are haunted by a strange creature that may or may not be stalking them through the wilderness and must try to figure out its existence to leave alive.
Review:
Overall, this was an enjoyable if somewhat troublesome genre effort. When this one works the best is the fantastic mixture of high-end action scenes mixed with thrilling creature action. The military-based setup here featuring the team running through the wilderness going through their missions which require tons of tactical weaponry alongside the full-on firefights that take place not just for the successful mission that opens the film but also the botched one that sets the main story in motion that pits them against not just an enemy sniper but the other ground forces in the middle of their mission.
This type of interplay is mixed together throughout the rest of the adventure back to their base when the creature starts getting more involved and bringing about a fantastic idea of whether or not he’s a figment of the tortured psyche within. This comes across rather nicely and manages to generate a lot of really likable features here challenging whether his interactions with the team and those they come across are really happening with others bearing witness to it as well but the initial encounters cast doubt over this leading to an intriguing enough concept that gets utilized quite well here.
There are some minor drawbacks that do emerge here to bring it down. The main feature is the surprisingly confusing layout of the film as it seems to shift constantly between this psychological mindset for the creature or a genuine article. There’s evidence for both interpretations, with the first sighting occurring just after the botched mission that’s a clear metaphor for the repressed guilt hovering over him with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. However, since there are also implications that those around him are also aware of it’s existence the use of both plausible explanations without committing to one is a weid take to go here.
The other factor that goes along with the film not being able to commit to a specific style rest s on it’s overlong and plodding pacing. The film runs a good ten-to-fifteen minutes too long with several implications that aren’t really necessary, including the constant echoes of his grief eating at him which just ends up creating a highly repetitive feeling here with the cutbacks to his interactions with his family trying to get over what happened that are repeated in the field with his friend. This becomes quite tedious being utilized as such here dragging the running time out for no reason, which are both enough to keep this down.
Overview: ***/5
Highly enjoyable for what it is even with some flaws, this is a solid and likable as a psychological-tinged creature feature even though this one does get undone by several factors. Those that are unbothered by these issues or are curious about what it has to offer will find it quite enjoyable but those that aren’t as forgiving of these factors should heed some caution with it.
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