Jo (Kierney Nelson) is devastated after Elliott (Matthew Weidle), a boy
she's nanny for, disappears while she's having a major argument with her
ex-boyfriend Ben (Dakota Morrissiey). Now she is sure he was abducted by the
creepy local icecream man Willie (J.T. Chinn), who frightened the boy to
death a couple of days earlier, then hit on her, but everybody else
believes Elliott has just ran off and drowned in a nearby river while Jo
has neglected her duties. The only one who actually believes her is Ben,
the one guy Jo was hoping to never see again since he has cheated on her.
But soon enough she and Ben are on Willie's trail, follow him to his home,
break in ... but suddenly they find themselves on the receiving end, as
Willie is not just some simpleton selling icecream but someone who has
planned the whole thing rather carefully - and it's actually not the boy
he wanted in the first place but Jo ... and he'll stop at literally
nothing to get her! Kruel is a rather unusual horror
film inasmuch as it keeps the viewer in the dark where it will lead and
builds up to its very tense finale rather slowly but strongly, and with
many surprises along the way. And the directorial effort really emphasizes
on atmosphere to keep the viewers glued to their seats. Add to that a
strong central performance by Kierney Nelson as the very troubled teen, a
strong supporting cast and a creepy villain, and you've got yourself a
pretty good piece of genre cinema.
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