Plot
Zephyr, is an American woman, and ‘loner’ travelling on the Gold Coast, Australia has a one night encounter with fellow free spirit Moses, an Australian real estate agent.
The next morning, she departs and is abducted – finding herself on a boat in the middle of the ocean. She is handcuffed to a bed, alongside British young woman Heather – who had previously been abducted by the menacing Tucker.
Now the pair have to try their escape, while Moses investigates Zephyr’s disappearance.
Direction
Directed by Sean Byrne, who had previously helmed 2015’s The Devil’s Candy and 2009’s The Loved Ones.
He manages to incorporate absolute terror from the antagoinst Tucker, meanwhile showing the stunning backdrop of The Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
Cast
Jai Courtney plays Tucker, the antagonist of the film. He is equal parts hilarious and frightening at times with his “ocka” personality. He turns on a dime to his menacing behaviour, and this all is shown to the audience in the first 9 minutes of the film (where he carries out his first kill). I loved the little additions to show this guy is not a good guy, like Dave’s dog (poor Dave) who doesn’t like him.
Hassie Harrison plays Zephyr. She is a ‘free spirit’ who meets someone just like her, and this leads her to question her ‘lone wolf’ personality for the first time. But then she is kidnapped by the serial killer Tucker. She is fine in the role, and holds her own against the villain.
Josh Heuston plays Moses, who spends the most part of the film searching for Zephyr. He has a never give up attitude.
Other cast include Ella Newton as Heather, Liam Greinke as Greg and Rob Carlton as Dave.
Breakdown
Starting off quickly, we get to know that the character of Tucker is a baaaad guy – but also very funny with the standard Aussie Larikan attitude. We meet him as he is the owner of a cage dive experience for sharks, and his latest customers are two backpackers, Greg, a young man from Canada and, Hannah, a young woman from UK. Following a cute moment where he calms their nerves with a rendition of Baby Shark… and immediately after kills Greg brutally.
I liked how they took the liberties of removing Tucker’s mask straight away, and reveal him to be this danger in a safe space in the crowded and bustling city of the Gold Coast. He reminded me of Mick Taylor from Wolf Creek, another Australian Horror film. He has some moments of pure zaniness (his dancing scenes), and then his clear historic kill history (his vhs cabinet) are horrifying.
The film then ‘shifts protagonists’ where we meet Zephyr. She is a loner, and a free spirit who loves to surf. By happenstance she meets Moses – a local real estate agent in the city of Gold Coast Australia. They bond over their like of the band (??? – ) This is something I found strange, and ‘written for the screen’ as I am a good decade older than these characters and had no clue about this song or the bad. Either these two were made completely for each other, or this was just cliché writing.
They have a night of passion, where the next morning Zephyr absconds into the night, where she too is kidnapped by Tucker, awakening in a cell – handcuffed to a bed, next to Hannah who has been imprisoned for some time.
For the next hour and a half or run time, we have sold too and fro of banter and tension between Tucker and Zephyr, who proves to be a fighter (he likes a fighter). One gripe I had (and it technically makes no sense in the realm of movie making) – is that Tucker lets her get away so often, and in one instance even saves her, only to put her back in the cell. There is one moment where it seemed like she actually got to him with her own verbal fight back.
The eventual murder of *** spoiler *** Hannah, is actually quite brutal, and heartbreaking, especially since she had been so upset about getting herself into this situation (and whether she would see her mum again).
Moses’ hunt for Zephyr, and his investigations are a ‘little’ on the nose, especially as he tells no one where he is going or what he is doing (and gets himself caught too). This connection between the pair is so strong after one day (sorry, 11-12 hours) that maybe they should have had them as an established couple instead of a one night stand. This would have made Moses’ pining over her more realistic, and the connection between them stronger… however – doing it the way they did strengthens the theme of ‘togetherness’ and that humans are not meant to be alone. We’re meant to have someone.
Overall
This was a fun one, and better than I expected. Courteney is both fun and terrifying as Tucker, and he brings to life the menacing character with his physical presence.
Some ups and downs in the whole scope of the film, but the final product is a solid entertainment- that has the right amount of terror.
A recommend.
4/5
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