Starring: Brendan Rock and Jordan Cowan
Distributor: Umbrella Films
Runtime: 96 mins. Reviewed in Mar 2024
Reviewer: Peter W Sheehan
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This Australian horror-thriller film tells the story of a lonely person, who is visited in a storm by an unexpected visitor.
The film is directed from a screenplay written by Indianna Bell, who co-directed the film. Patrick (Rock) lives a lonely life in isolation in a mobile home at the back of a trailer park in Australia. When a thunderstorm breaks, he is visited early one morning by a young woman (Cowan), identified simply as ‘The Visitor’, who asks for shelter from a fierce storm. Patrick takes her in, and they engage tentatively, and then intensely, as persons, who slowly reveal their motivations to each other. Patrick and The Visitor express nervousness as unnatural occurrences occur around them, and The Visitor finds it difficult to leave. The film’s tension escalates, and explodes in a climax that firmly puts the film into the horror genre.
The movie is well crafted and directed by Bell and Allen, and it is well acted. Patrick lives permanently in a state of psychological unease that increases in intensity after The Visitor enters. As the ferocity of the storm increases, so do the threats experienced by both. The film builds uncertainty in viewers as to who is threatened the most – Patrick, or The Visitor – and whether either can really be trusted?
This is a smartly produced thriller that combines classical paranoia with themes associated with haunted dwellings and hallucinatory imagery. The film’s claustrophobic atmosphere keeps the viewer guessing until the end, and tensions are reinforced by strong performances by its two main actors – both of whom are genuinely creepy. The film is a mix of unsettling imagery, delusion, anxiety, and fantasy that all combine to give depth to the main storyline. Nightmarish scenes come to life as the film develops, and the film ends by asking viewers to decide what is real and what is not. The movie’s final scene answers that question.
This movie is a dark piece of filmmaking which reinforces the reputation Australian cinema has developed for producing good horror cinema. It evokes shock and awe in a chilling way, and true to the horror genre, is creepily unsettling. With a storm raging outside, it is impossible to detect which of the two main characters is telling the truth – but we, the viewers, know both are lying.
This is a dialogue-heavy film made on a low budget that packs a solid punch. It is well crafted, thoughtfully directed, and acted and scripted in a way that creates an atmosphere of dread, and escalating suspense. The script cleverly leaves the viewer not knowing what is going to happen next, and who to trust.
Umbrella Entertainment
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