I liked this film for the acting.. Philippe and Savage are very convincing and creepy. And the two young kids are very natural.
HOwever... there are so many loose ends that I can't really give it more than 5, even if it held my attention til the end.
SPOILERS!!! It takes three cops to move the Volkswagon van... how did Savage manage that all by himself? Why did the mother stay with a man who was Savage (pun!) and violent? There is absolutely no reason given for her to love him or be supportive. Background should have been added to this.
The two kids have just lost their mother and father, but they don't seem to be at all upset about it. They go to sleep in the cop's car and when they wake up it's as if it were just another day. On top of that, when they go to see Philippe in the hospital, he is covered in blood, almost half dead, and again their reactions are far too calm and controlled. This isn't the fault of the actors, rather of the direction and writing.
Since when would a woman whose husband is killed and her baby stolen ONLY go to the military and no-one else for 8 years?!! There was absolutely NO scenes in the movie where we got a sense that the mother EVER spent any time looking after the youngsters...in fact, except as a plot device, her existence didn't seem to matter at all; She's just THERE... to f*ck or to hand out beers, but we never get the sense of a CARING woman towards her children... except to Ryan.
The mailman and the young cop seem to be added as afterthoughts, mainly for Philippe to give us some information...but even though they seem suspicious neither of them really get developed.
IN the end, the film intrigues and disappoints in equal measure.
HOwever... there are so many loose ends that I can't really give it more than 5, even if it held my attention til the end.
SPOILERS!!! It takes three cops to move the Volkswagon van... how did Savage manage that all by himself? Why did the mother stay with a man who was Savage (pun!) and violent? There is absolutely no reason given for her to love him or be supportive. Background should have been added to this.
The two kids have just lost their mother and father, but they don't seem to be at all upset about it. They go to sleep in the cop's car and when they wake up it's as if it were just another day. On top of that, when they go to see Philippe in the hospital, he is covered in blood, almost half dead, and again their reactions are far too calm and controlled. This isn't the fault of the actors, rather of the direction and writing.
Since when would a woman whose husband is killed and her baby stolen ONLY go to the military and no-one else for 8 years?!! There was absolutely NO scenes in the movie where we got a sense that the mother EVER spent any time looking after the youngsters...in fact, except as a plot device, her existence didn't seem to matter at all; She's just THERE... to f*ck or to hand out beers, but we never get the sense of a CARING woman towards her children... except to Ryan.
The mailman and the young cop seem to be added as afterthoughts, mainly for Philippe to give us some information...but even though they seem suspicious neither of them really get developed.
IN the end, the film intrigues and disappoints in equal measure.