I too saw this at FrightFest and purposefully avoided reading too much about it beforehand. Having loved Creep and enjoying the silliness of Severance, I was expecting something squarely within the horror genre. This is definitely not that. Quite surprised it was chosen to open the festival actually - but this is by no means a criticism.
The film isn't quite a thriller either - the unconventional narrative reminded me more of Memento. There's another film, a well known US comedy (which I won't name to save the spoiler) which employs a similar device - although this film is by no means unoriginal. The film, like Memento, is satisfyingly complex in leaving the viewer with questions about precisely what has gone on but without any feeling of bafflement.
A great central performance from Melissa George really makes the film - she really pulls off the huge character development required over the duration of the film - no mean feat given the structure and short running time of the film.
This should open up some doors for Smith outside the horror genre - and on this evidence he is going to be well capable of dealing with complex and big ideas and I'm looking forward to more interesting work from him ASAP.
The film isn't quite a thriller either - the unconventional narrative reminded me more of Memento. There's another film, a well known US comedy (which I won't name to save the spoiler) which employs a similar device - although this film is by no means unoriginal. The film, like Memento, is satisfyingly complex in leaving the viewer with questions about precisely what has gone on but without any feeling of bafflement.
A great central performance from Melissa George really makes the film - she really pulls off the huge character development required over the duration of the film - no mean feat given the structure and short running time of the film.
This should open up some doors for Smith outside the horror genre - and on this evidence he is going to be well capable of dealing with complex and big ideas and I'm looking forward to more interesting work from him ASAP.