To write his latest novel - and also to get away from his boyfriend Jamie (William Tippery) for a while, Ben (Joshua Tonks) has rented a cabin in the middle of nowhere - but despite his best efforts, inspiration just won't strike ... until a stranger (Jay Clift) enters the cabin uninvited, comes up with a story that his car has broken down that just doesn't ring true, and one of his hands is suspiciously injured. Ben is fascinated by the stranger, whose name he doesn't even know, so he invites him to stay for a while - and he makes him the antagonist of his novel. For Ben it's a bit of a flirt with danger that gives him the necessary rush - at first, but he soon starts to have second thoughts: What if the stranger is exactly the bad guy he has made him in his story, and what if he walked into his own doom eyes wide open? And why hasn't Jay arrived at the cabin yet even though he has called last night promising to come over? And what is the stranger keeping in the trunk of his broken down car? And above all, in this neck of the woods there have been a few missing person cases too many of late ...

A pretty cool little thriller that plays with genre conventions and uses exactly that to create suspense. Now basically the basic story of the film isn't too original, but it's treated on a meta-level, where the audience's familiarity with genre tropes might give one a clue what to expect, but the fact that the tropes are toyed with rather than just applies creates a promise of constant surprise. And add to that a genre savvy directorial effort and a small but strong cast, and the result is pretty awesome genre entertainment.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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