Plot
Five months after a tragic rock-climbing accident that caused the death of her husband, Sasha heads to his native Australia for a less dramatic adventure.
Unfortunately she runs into Ben, a local to the rough terrain – who begins a threatening game of cat and mouse – where his goal is to murder her.
But the strong willed Sasha might just be more than he bargained for, when she fights back – she is ready to fight to the death!
Direction
Directed by Baltasar Kormákur – who I’ve previously reviewed his 21 Guns. I enjoyed the way he portrayed the Australian scenery.
Cast
Charlize Theron plays Sasha. She has always been a solid lead – and this is a great film for her in this point in her life.
Taron Egerton plays Ben. He is the standout of the film. Not only for his maniacal performance – but also his flawless Australian accent. Bravo! He plays intimidating so well, showing he can be both the good guy and bad guy in films.
Eric Bana has a brief role at the start of the film as Tommy, Sasha’s husband, who is killed in a rock climbing accident.
Breakdown
The films cold open starts with the standard cliché tragedy. The lead character (here Charlize Theron’s Sasha) – an experienced adventurer is involved with a perilous adventure that sees a loved one killed off. Here it is husband Tommy.
Cut to 5 months later, and Sasha, still in mourning, is back in Tommy’s native Australia – where she is trying to find her next adventure. Pretty soon into the film she finds herself on the outs with the locals, all except Ben (I’m going to point out that Taron Egerton’s Aussie accent is practically flawless here!) who is more welcoming than his rowdy crew who don’t understand that she just wants to be left alone.
Not long after this, when Sasha heads to some of the scenic parts of Australia (all created for the movie FYI but still filmed here) – she encounters Ben once again – who then reveals his true nature. He is a homicidal maniac who wants to chase her and kill her. Now she must use her knowledge of survival in order to outsmart him…
What the film does quite well was the set ups – we really get a sense of who Sasha is. She’s a thrill seeker – and due to her loss – very much a loner. Also when we first meet Ben, he seems like a decent guy – and there is genuine conversation between the pair before the malice begins. If you didn’t know going in the Ben was going to be the antagonist, the reveal that he took her bag (after it went missing while she was camping) would have been quite the shock considering how charismatic he was prior to this. That being said, Sasha is wary of those around her, not completely open to trusting those around her… and rightly so.
The next hour of runtime we really get a sense of the peril that Sasha is going through – not just from Ben – but from the elements around her. You get a few genuine shocks and gasps as she is escaping him (hitting her head on the rocks while under the water on a kayak), and then being hunted by him (first shot of an arrow being shot at her, and then falling back into the water).
The pair do spend quite an amount of time with each other once the ‘ritual’ begins – and he takes her back to his lair. He has a Wolf Creek like lair – and is reminiscent of other movies I’ve watched recently (Dangerous Animals). Sasha’s fight back is quite graphic and visceral.
One down I had was some of the ‘climbing’ sequences (like the post Ben moment) are shot a little too close. These could have been better visually if they were done with wider shots – but potentially this could have been harder to do logistically due to limitations with surroundings or performers ability?
Högni Egilsson provides a solid and intense score.
Overall
Wild ride with great performances by Theron and Egerton.
A little clunky in the middle, but it is still a lot of fun. Some tightened direction could have been better too.
A recommend.
3.5/5
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