Nordling here.
RETREAT was my first film today at Fantastic Fest, and I thought Jamie Bell's performance was inspired. Muldoon does a lot of our transcribing work here at AICN, and he came out of the same screening. Here are his thoughts on RETREAT!
Muldoon Reviews RETREAT
So it’s day three of Fantastic Fest and so far my mind is blown. I’ve seen movie after movie of crazy goodness with Korean flicks like HAUNTERS and THE YELLOW SEA topping my faves up until now.
I just caught first time director Carl Tibbetts’ thriller RETREAT. As always, I rarely read synopses for the films playing the fest, I just pick a title and sit in the theater for some sort of a surprise. I wasn’t expecting where this film was going during the first act and quite honestly I still wasn’t sure where it was going halfway in and I mean that as an incredible compliment to the filmmakers. On that note, if you’re looking for a review that gives away practically any kind of spoiler or walks you through the film, this isn’t it.
Scanning the IMDB page of the film I see it’s got five out of 10 stars at the moment and that blows my mind. I’d toss eight or a seven easy, so fair warning I might be in some sort of a minority.
The film starts out with Martin [Cillian Murphy] and Kate [Thandie Newton] getting dropped off at a cabin on an island for time away from the city. As they walk to their cottage, we are treated with long shot after long shot displaying how incredibly beautiful this island is. Once they arrive at their cottage and get settled in, it quickly becomes obvious something’s up with the two and their retreat is a last ditch effort to possibly save their marriage. I say “obvious,” because not sharing a bed to sleep and having your wife confiding in her computer rather than in you, the husband, well that’s never a good sign. The beginning of the film reminds me of walking in on a couple after they’ve been screaming at each other.
Without giving much more of a play by play, an injured man [Jamie Bell] appears and the two take him in. He presents them with a problem and bam, the story kicks off and you are instantly tossed into a mindfuck of “Is this guy for real? No… Yeah, well maybe” and maintains that level of confusion until the very end. All of a sudden those beautiful long shots from earlier are replaced with tight, semi-claustrophobic mediums and close ups, like you’re slowly being choked, a sign of a damn good thriller, I think. The film is moody, tense, and gets your heart racing and your brain spinning.
To cut to the chase, RETREAT is a terrific film full of incredible performances tied together with damn good pacing and a thick atmosphere all pretty much set in the confines of a cottage. If you are at all a fan of films like BUG, THE TENANT, or ROSEMARY’S BABY, then this film is for you.
Nordling, out.
