I thoroughly enjoyed Subservience, the killer AI maid movie starring Megan Fox, so I figured I would check out her previous collaboration with director SK Dale, Till Death. Turns out this one is just as good, if not better. He takes a slight, but memorable plot and is able to get as much suspense out of the scenario as just about anyone could.
Fox plays an unhappily married woman whose husband (Eoin Macken) is a rich douche. On their anniversary, he lures her to their remote lake house in the middle of winter for a romantic get-together. When she wakes up in the morning, she finds herself handcuffed to her husband and… well… I wouldn’t want to spoil it. Let’s just say that it plays like a mash-up of Gerald’s Game and that one episode of Tales from the Crypt with Kyle MacLachlan.
Survival horror is one of my favorite subgenres and Dale does a good job setting up the premise. At a lithe ninety minutes, he keeps things moving as well. He doesn’t dwell on little details and relies on the audience to put two and two together. (For example, we don’t need a scene where Fox fashions makeshift shoes for herself when a simple close-up of her wrapped-up feet will suffice during the action.) The clever script by Jason Carvey also manages to keep finding new ways to ramp up the severity of Fox’s predicament.
Fox does some fine work here. I especially liked the scene where she realized what’s happening to her. It’s almost like you see a switch thrown as she automatically transforms from trophy wife to survivor. The role is also enormously physical, and she proves she is quite adept at being in way over her head without necessarily making her character a victim.
I will say the movie loses some of its immediacy once more and more people arrive at the house looking for Fox and her husband. However, there is still plenty of suspense to be had, even if it was more fun when Megan was all by her lonesome. The climax is especially effective and contains some nice de Palmaesque camerawork.
If you’re looking for a lean, mean thriller, this will fit the bill nicely. Chase it with Subservience and you have yourself a heck of a double feature. I hope Dale and Fox team up again soon. It will be fun seeing if they can go 3 for 3.
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