Eden Lake

The islanders strike back at the French, who have had no competition in the exploitation field recently. It takes place in the traditional backdrop of a deep forest, where a young couple go for a romantic weekend. This time they’re not terrorized by a sweaty redneck, but rather by a bunch of rude brats. The plot, based on a clear model, is disrupted by several impressive twists and turns, an excellent pair of protagonists, a twisted party boss with the visage of a hockey player, and, above all, a surreal ending that pushes the despair even further. Some moments (the thorn, the game with fire, the ending) make me want to give it full stars, but the slight aftertaste from the mix of Frontier(s) and Them keeps me at a four, albeit a very strong four. Keep it up! (01/04/2009)

I would describe Eden Lake as a similar derivative of Estonia's The Class, with a point opposite to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. As with The Class, this film kept me wondering throughout if this was possible – where the hell is justice. The harsh fact is that this is what happens, and more and more often, which is as startling as the ending of the film. And one of the final phrases, that they are just kids, is as shocking as the brutal practices of the teenagers in the film. In short, a film that I can understand some will cover their eyes at, but for me it stood up pretty solidly as a representative of "one of the most provocative and terrifying films of the year." (04/08/2011)

Brats! I also give the film three average stars for the fact that this (more or less) variation on Peckinpah's classic Straw Dogs moves along quickly and for the excellent Kelly Reilly, whom I knew only from her "cool" costume roles in Pride and Prejudice or Sherlock Holmes. But that's all I was captivated by in Eden Lake. It didn't even scare me. (07/25/2011)

Eden Lake is a very intense experience that cannot be recommended to everyone because it's simply not suitable for the faint-hearted. Yes, towards the end, it becomes a bit overdone and perhaps unnecessarily concludes the way it does. However, as long as the film unfolds in the forest, it is truly oppressive and intense. People are monsters, and even though the film is purely fictional, you easily realize that something similar could happen. Justice is just an assumption; only family and an eye for an eye exist. A pretty dark message. (11/06/2014)

Poor old Michael Fassbender makes a fatal mistake and takes Dr. Watson’s wife on a trip to a lake. To a lake in Britain. Toa lake in Britain where youths are playing youthful games. Despite a couple of weird things about the behavior of the characters (even though, let’s face it, people are fundamentally idiots and don’t behave logically, especially where emotions are involved) and a couple of weird situations, this is an excellent example of how things can go really frickin’ (“mind your language") wrong. No shortage of brutality and the ending is a lot to take. Powerlessness... a loss of morale, conscience and rules. Americans can go jump in a dumpster with their would-be survival horrors and thrillers. (12/25/2011)