Directed by:
John HyamsScreenplay:
Mattias OlssonCinematography:
Federico VerardiComposer:
Nima FakhraraPlots(1)
Jessica (Jules Wilcox) drives on a long, lonely stretch of road in the Pacific Northwest. Attempting to rebound from a tragic loss, she's packed up her belongings and is headed back to her hometown to restart her life. Also on this stretch of road is a Man (Marc Menchaca) who, at first, seems harmless enough, but keeps showing up in the same places as Jessica. But it's no coincidence. The Man has hostile plans for her, and once in his clutches she has to fight her way out to safety somewhere in the Oregon wilderness, away from civilization, away from any help and away from the devious psychotic out to destroy her. She will have to face this in the cold and rain while injured. She will have to face this knowing that it will put anyone who helps her in harm’s way. She will have to face this not knowing why The Man chose her. She will have to face this while her life is already in pieces. She will have to face this and all of her fears at once. And she'll have to face it all alone. (Fantasia International Film Festival)
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Unexpected quality. In recent years I became convinced that the victim-forest-hunter concept has become exhausted, and I didn’t even enjoy this year’s satirical The Hunt, but here they are working on surprisingly fertile ground. 100 minutes may seem too much, but this film doesn’t have a single redundant scene that wouldn’t hold the viewer’s attention. And yet, it’s not a world-class example of psychology and originality, it’s more than enough that the characters maintain the functional characteristics of the archetypes, that the heroine doesn’t behave stupidly and we can root for her, and that the villain is properly nasty in a way that is inconspicuous from the outside (the two telephone calls with his family do a pretty good job). Also, it’s well laid out narratively, the stages of the story are always moving forward without any boring wanderings about in the woods, and the escape from captivity takes place right in the middle of the film, which is also proof that someone thought things out while writing instead of only relying on a proven template. It’s simple, but at the same time simply gripping and effective. The scene with the unfortunate rescuer Robert is brilliantly executed and the final confrontation is also satisfying. John Hyams has made a better film than his relatively famous father has made in the last 30 years. 75%
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Alone loses points because of its unimaginative screenplay and the improbable behaviour of its characters. The forest setting is not enough, nor is the typologically well-chosen killer when there is neither the skill nor effort to motivationally shape his character, to somehow surprise the viewer or to have a greater goal than a hunt and fight for survival, which is done more interestingly by a lot of other films. An absolutely average two and a half stars.
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