Director: Adam Levins.
Cast: James Cosmo, Amy Manson, Nora-Jane Noone, James Lance, Craig Conway.
Estranged
After six years away from home, January is forced to go back following a bike accident that's left her wheelchair bound and with no memory of her childhood.
When she returns with her boyfriend, Callum, she can't remember any of her family who live in a remote, stately home in the country.
As she tries to remember and put the pieces back together along with Callum, she becomes more suspicious of her family's behaviour.
She can't recall why she left, or what it was that drove her and her family apart- but as the clues begin to fall into place, the people she lives with are not who they seem.
From the pictures and synopsis, I thought this was a horror movie; however it leans more towards the thriller genre for me. This isn't a bad thing- just not what I expected which makes a refreshing change.
From the very first crash scene of this movie- I was hooked. It draws you into January's world and you are carried along with her as she discovers who she is and what caused the disruption in her family life all those years ago.
The thing I liked most about this film was the harrowing scenes were more of a suggestion than graphic. Many times the camera pulled away from the action leaving nothing but the haunting sounds of someone being beaten or worse. The movie leaves the images to the imagination and I think that is a very effective tool in horrors and thrillers. Too many films hand it all on an a plate- but this one makes you work for it.
The isolation was a very powerful tool in this production- yes- the secluded house is very stereotypical of this genre but the fact that January was also bound to the chair was just another reason for the character and the audience to feel claustrophobic.
Amy Manson was especially good as January. You feel her confusion and her frustration as she tries to pull together the fragments of her life and make sense of it all.
Nora-Jane Noone and James Lance were perfect in the roles of January's brother and sister, both welcoming and hostile in equal measure so you never really knew who's side they were on.
Eileen Nicolas played the part of the mother- the only character who is genuinely loving towards January upon her return- but she's vacant and disengaged which makes her of little help to her daughter's plight.
James Cosmo was a big presence in this film- as the father running the tight ship with nothing but disappointment for his daughter who left.
Both my husband and I thought we had the ending figured out- but it went off in a completely different direction to what we expected and it's not often one can say that about a film.
There was no reliance on special effects in this movie- just excellent acting, a remote setting that was both beautiful and menacing and a clever script that had you guessing all the way to its conclusion.
Tagged in James Cosmo