As this film opens we find Helena living deep in the wilderness with her parents. She is particularly close to her father who has taught her how to understand nature and live off the land. Then one day, while her father is away, a stranger turns up on a quadbike. He says he is lost and asks directions... suddenly Helena's mother begs him to take them away from there. Her father shoots the man but they get away on the bike. She later learns that her father had kidnapped her mother two years before she was born. Her father is jailed. The years pass and she has left that life behind, married and has a daughter of her own. Then her father escapes from jail. Soon after she is told he died in a car crash; his burnt body identified by distinctive dental work. Not convinced that he is dead she heads back into the wilderness; the place she is sure he will have headed to.
This might not be the best example of the genre but it is still rather fun. Early scenes serve to introduce the characters before delivering the sucker punch regarding Helena's not so wonderful father. It does get a little slow for a while as older Helena wonders what really happened to her father after his escape and worries about her family. Once she is back in the marshy wilderness the tension mounts nicely. Typically one might expect our heroine to have to face several bad guys but this avoids that cliché. The cast is impressive, especially Daisy Ridley who plays the older Helena and Ben Mendelsohn who is suitably ambiguous as her father. The wilderness locations used look great. There isn't too much in the way of disturbing material; the violence is fairly mild and refreshingly the dialogue isn't peppered with swearing. Overall a solid little thriller, perhaps not a must see but it passes the time nicely.
This might not be the best example of the genre but it is still rather fun. Early scenes serve to introduce the characters before delivering the sucker punch regarding Helena's not so wonderful father. It does get a little slow for a while as older Helena wonders what really happened to her father after his escape and worries about her family. Once she is back in the marshy wilderness the tension mounts nicely. Typically one might expect our heroine to have to face several bad guys but this avoids that cliché. The cast is impressive, especially Daisy Ridley who plays the older Helena and Ben Mendelsohn who is suitably ambiguous as her father. The wilderness locations used look great. There isn't too much in the way of disturbing material; the violence is fairly mild and refreshingly the dialogue isn't peppered with swearing. Overall a solid little thriller, perhaps not a must see but it passes the time nicely.