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There's not much acting required here: even when randomly talking about past issues, each actor maintains a meathead military persona, barking dialog rather than speaking it. Regret over past mistakes feels paper thin, as do connections between them. The cast is adept at adding minor variations that reveal ripples of mental stress, especially as their numbers deplete. But without any real subtext, they seem like little more than puppets in a haunted house.

This makes it difficult to engage with them. Instead, Paton relies on a creepy-looking woman (Szamalek) picking off these soldiers one by one. Although each of the murders is grim rather than scary. And since the characters are so ill-defined, their conflicts have no weight. All of this makes the film feel overlong, literally going round in circles with no end in sight, like Groundhog Day with machine guns. Or a low-rent version of Edge of Tomorrow. Although the script's wry reference is to Back to the Future Part 2.

themes, language, violence

7.Jun.20

Performances are grounded and matter-of-fact, which keeps the film engaging as freaky things happen around the characters. Dillard has a wickedly straightforward wit, full of attitude as Emerson is generally fed up with everything, plus feelings of lingering bitterness after a bad breakup. But her clear perspective on things is refreshingly entertaining, especially when she calls others on their idiocy. Opposite her, Speight has an equally earthy sense of humour as a hapless man who has never quite come into his own.

For a film largely shot around two people inside a car, there's plenty of visual variety, and even some strong suspense. Everyone this duo encounters is suspicious, some are downright scary, but it all plays out with tongue firmly planted in cheek. That said, a few of the conversations take startlingly nasty turns. And the narrative has a likeable ramshackle quality, charging full-speed through massive (and perhaps deliberate) holes. Although this does leave the big climax feeling a bit underwhelming.

themes, language, violence

15.Jun.20

This is a tour-de-force for Gordon-Levitt, who carries the film with a superbly textured performance that ripples with resolve and desperation. It's a strongly physical role, with wrenching emotions that resonate strongly, even with the cursory establishment of the fact that he has a 2-year-old son with his girlfriend, a flight attendant whose fate hangs in the balance. The Muslim hijackers are seriously cold-blooded, but never caricatures, and one of them is wrestling with his conscience.

The film is strikingly well shot in a confined space, as the nighttime setting isolates the warmly glowing cockpit in inky shadows. And Tobias is further isolated by language, as an American working in Germany. So even if there aren't wider themes at work here, the story's edgy energy keeps the audience gripped from start to finish, even when awkward plot points strain credibility, especially in the extended final act. But the film is refreshingly free of the usual Hollywood bombast, remaining gritty and urgent right to the haunting conclusion.

themes, language, violence

16.Jun.20