Rating: D
Dir: Shani Grewal
Star: Suzanna Hamilton, Michael Maloney , Francesca Baker, Viraj Juneja
This is the sort of film which makes you contemplate your own mortality. Not out of any inherent qualities, mind. Just a concern that on my death-bed, I’m going to look back and regret all the time spent on movies like Ride the Snake. I could have been wandering art galleries, listening to the great composers, or simply enjoying the sunset. Instead, I spent ninety minutes watching an old geezer tied to a bed or sitting at a dinner table, doing funny voices. Yay for making me question the validity of my basic choices in life. #ThanksIHateIt It’s probably more disturbing than even the H.P. Lovecraft quote with which this opens.
It does begin reasonably well. Four years earlier, Harper (Hamilton, who was Izzie in Tess) was in a car accident, which killed her husband and left her blind. The other driver, Sebastian (Maloney) got off due to mental issues, involving multiple personality disorder. But Harper and her daughter, Megan (Baker), have taken steps to ensure justice is served. To the horror of Harper’s stepson, Taran (Juneja), they have kidnapped Sebastian and intend to hold a further trial. Things get more complex when members of Sebastian’s tribe of Gypsies Romanies nomadic persons of a caravan owning persuasion turn up, led by Sebastian’s daughter, Lilith. It also becomes increasingly unclear whether Sebastian is faking it, genuinely mentally ill, or… Well, the Lovecraft quote might hint in the general direction of the third alternative.
Initially, there are little moments that are effective, such as a weird shimmering effect in the background, and a shadowy figure which is presumably the ghost of the husband. But about thirty minutes in, the whole endeavour simply falls apart. It feels as if the whole thing is… well, “improvised” would be putting it kindly, I’m more inclined to go with “made up as they went along” – and not by people particularly skilled in the art of off-the-cuff acting either. As mentioned, you spend far too much time watching Sebastian’s various personalities arguing with themselves. I mean, it’s certainly a performance. But when you need a scorecard to keep track of all the players inhabiting one character’s head, a film might have gone too far.
It’s clear that the film is going for a sense of creeping dread gradually building towards… something, as we gradually learn more about what’s going on. Unfortunately, it only delivers a sense of creeping boredom, despite the efforts of veterans actors Hamilton and Maloney. The material simply isn’t there. The limited budget is often obvious, to the extent that this feels more like a play than a movie, and the staging is painfully theatrical. We reach the end with another Lovecraft quote, only weirdly mangled – “That which is eternal cannot die”, instead of, “That is not dead which can eternal lie” – and rarely have I been less affected by a film. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going outside to touch grass. Maybe watch the sunset.