Overview
After being abducted and taken to a desolate house, a girl sets out to rescue her friend and escape from their malicious kidnapper.
Two schoolchildren, Alana and Rabin, are abducted by a man named Jack, who takes them to an isolated house where Rabin is locked in an attic room, whilst Alana remains in the trunk of the car. Escaping from her confines, Alana sneaks around the house to try to free Rabin, discovering the sinister fate that will befall the pair if they don’t escape, and so begins a tense game of cat and mouse as the kidnapper starts to suspect someone is in the house with him.
This film dropped onto Netflix with the disclaimer that it contains no dialogue, which intrigued me. However, much like other films which have tried this approach, it doesn’t entirely work. Yes, it helps capture the tension as Alana sneaks around, desperate to not make a sound, and in many moments the gimmick works a treat. But, sadly, the contrivance of silence also breaks the film at various points, such as when phone calls are made. These moments just seem ridiculous without any words, as do the moments when the kidnapper confronts Alana without and dialogue. Other films that have tried a similar approach – such as Silent Night – suffered in the same way, sadly diminishing the overall film. There is also a distorted background noise that plays throughout the film, which does its job of unsettling, before becoming distracting, and then somewhat annoying.
Kudos, however, to the small cast who sell the basic concept well. Alex Abbad is menacingly casually twisted as the kidnapper, but it is Anantya Kirana as the young girl Alana that really stands out, really drawing you into her frighteningly tense plight as she tries desperately to save her friend.
A simple, single location film with a tight run-time, the only thing that lets Monster down really is the insistence on the silence gimmick. Had that not been an approach taken by the filmmakers, this could have been something stronger as a result.