In Fear is a very small budget film and is the first feature length film from directer Jeremy Lovering. After receiving praise at the Sundance Film Festival, In Fear has been getting approval from film critics for its success at creating a suspenseful thriller on such a small budget. This is a film that gets some things right, but lacks in other major areas.
The movie plot revolves around something we all manage to do, which is getting lost during a trip. The film tells the story of Tom (Iain De Caestecker) and Lucy (Alice Englert) who are heading toward a music festival to meet up with friends when Tom surprises Lucy by telling her that he has reserved a hotel room for the evening at a remote resort and invites her to join him. Lucy accepts the invitation and they go off the main road to get to the resort. What follows are horrific experiences with the unknown, as they eventually get caught up in a confusing maze of roads while potentially being stalked.
One area this movie excels at is its camera work. Most of the film is shot in a small car and the camera operators did a great job at filming from many different angels and succeed at creating tension and suspense. Director Jeremy Lovering also did a great job making this film with the limited resources he had. With only three main characters and few filming locations, he has achieved what many independent filmmakers strive for, which is to make a feature film on a small budget that isn’t completely uninteresting. The filming locations where it was shot actually have a mystic feeling to them, especially at night.
However there are big drawbacks to In Fear that really holds it back from being much better. The biggest problem with the film is its plot. Firstly, there is zero character development. We know nothing in regards of their interests, jobs or family. When there’s at least some character development, the audience gets more into the film because we feel more attached to a character we know something about. But that is not the case here.
The relationship between Tom and Lucy is often confusing, as we are left wondering just how acquainted they are. Sometimes they appear like they barely know each other while other times it seems they are nearly in a relationship. In one scene Tom says he barely knows Lucy, yet Lucy accepts an invitation to stay with him in a hotel.
The acting in this film is another aspect that drags the film down. The acting is not great with the three characters in the movie, and if there are only three people in the film it should be made sure they put on a good performance. And then there’s the ending of the film, which was a letdown in my opinion. We were never given a clear explanation as to why everything happened the way it did and if everyone made it out. However despite the downfalls in certain areas of the movie, admittingly I was still interested in the outcome of the film and had to watch it till the end. If you are a fan of suspenseful movies you might find a little bit of a kick from this, but don’t set your expectations too high. It’s a decent bargain bin movie.
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MOVIE RATING
Reviewed by Ivan Karhoff
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