There is something confusing about Brit flick Cherry Tree Lane and it isn't the plot. That is simple enough: Middle class couple eating dinner in their nice home, son is out at football, doorbell rings and they are attacked and held captive by a group of their son's acquaintances who await his return to enact revenge for 'grassing'.
The confusion comes because I don't understand what Paul Andrew Williams really wants to convey with this film.
It has some quite artistic cinematography. All very nice but lingering extreme close ups, shot with minimal depth of field, don't add anything when the film merely skims the surface of the story, foregoing any attempt to get beneath the skin of the characters or plot.
The opening scene hints that there is discord between the parents but this is never explained, explored or even revisited.
The son's misdemeanour, that earns the wrath of this group of teens, isn't explained either. And we learn little about the hoodies to challenge perceptions hints of back story are fleeting and left unexplored.
Without knowing the characters' motives or the consequences of their action you are left with something that is supposed to be a tense thriller but just frustrates.
*plot spoiler* The closest I got to the edge of my seat was when the father manages to free himself and the first thing he doesn't do is call the police. I mean, the man has a house full of thugs, with knives, who have beaten him up, raped his wife and are and now doing something extremely horrible to his son upstairs. He does all sorts of things including a lot of bumbling around dazed but he doesn't call the police.
I've never wanted to yell at a cinema screen more. OK so this is a film and probably not the most exciting conclusion but it was the only extreme reaction I can say this film provoked. Shame really because it had the makings of a really interesting film.
Professional views:
Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian gave it three stars and likened it to what a Christmas special of Eastenders might look like in the hands of Michael Haneke, albeit with a poorer ending than the Austrian film maestro would have given it. Interesting that he mentions Haneke because he is the master of building tension with a lingering camera shot.
Damon Wise at Empire Online gave it four stars concluding: "Taut, tightly-plotted and at times confronting, it'll have you gripping the arm of your seat and double-locking the door."
Rotten Tomatoes UK gave it an aggregated review rating of 56%
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