Tweet
A combination of what you might expect if David Lynch and Mike Leigh teamed up to make a horror movie, paying homage to a very celebrated British horror film from the 70's. It's got a strange, choppy pacing to it that is much more show than tell, and resisting the use of expository dialogue to explain bits and pieces of each character introduced.
The story centers around Jay, who's been out of work for the last 8 months, and experiencing domestic and financial frustrations at home. He and his wife are experiencing a bumpy patch, and he's dealing with the stress of an incident that is only referred to as being gone seriously awry in Kiev before taking this long sabbatical. We find out quickly that Jay and his wife are ex-military and that his best friend Gal, who also served, work as hitmen as their employment.
Gal comes to a dinner party hosted by Jay and his wife, bringing his current flame Fiona along for the evening. Jay's domestic stresses boil over and Gal suggests that Jay return to work with him on a contract that will help Jay "get back on the horse"; it's a local job with three targets and the job pays well. The dinner party continues awkwardly and tensely towards it's conclusion, but not before Fiona does something very strange before leaving, unknown to the rest of the group.
Naturally things aren't quite what they seem, or we wouldn't have much to write about - this is obvious from the moment that Jay and Gal arrive at the hotel to meet the client and their "signature" on contract. What follows is a very slow burning, very unsettling decent into the abstract and chaotic.
It's not for everyone - it's very subtle with the clues it gives through the story that brings you to the very unnerving ending, and it doesn't glamorize the hitman profession - both Jay and Gal are professionals capable of some incredibly shocking acts of violence and are prone to self justification of their work, especially when the story takes a turn towards some seriously disturbing territory. But for people that want something a bit more challenging, a bit more subtle than the usual Hollywood fare, I would definitely suggest giving this a look, and would look forward to a discussion of what went on to lead the film to its conclusion.
The story centers around Jay, who's been out of work for the last 8 months, and experiencing domestic and financial frustrations at home. He and his wife are experiencing a bumpy patch, and he's dealing with the stress of an incident that is only referred to as being gone seriously awry in Kiev before taking this long sabbatical. We find out quickly that Jay and his wife are ex-military and that his best friend Gal, who also served, work as hitmen as their employment.
Gal comes to a dinner party hosted by Jay and his wife, bringing his current flame Fiona along for the evening. Jay's domestic stresses boil over and Gal suggests that Jay return to work with him on a contract that will help Jay "get back on the horse"; it's a local job with three targets and the job pays well. The dinner party continues awkwardly and tensely towards it's conclusion, but not before Fiona does something very strange before leaving, unknown to the rest of the group.
Naturally things aren't quite what they seem, or we wouldn't have much to write about - this is obvious from the moment that Jay and Gal arrive at the hotel to meet the client and their "signature" on contract. What follows is a very slow burning, very unsettling decent into the abstract and chaotic.
It's not for everyone - it's very subtle with the clues it gives through the story that brings you to the very unnerving ending, and it doesn't glamorize the hitman profession - both Jay and Gal are professionals capable of some incredibly shocking acts of violence and are prone to self justification of their work, especially when the story takes a turn towards some seriously disturbing territory. But for people that want something a bit more challenging, a bit more subtle than the usual Hollywood fare, I would definitely suggest giving this a look, and would look forward to a discussion of what went on to lead the film to its conclusion.
Comment