HIDDEN

TITLE:  Hidden

DIRECTOR: Matt Duffer (as The Duffer Brothers), Ross Duffer (as The Duffer Brothers)

STARRING: Alexander Skarsgård, Andrea Riseborough, Emily Alyn Lind

BLURB: Fear will find you

RATING:  7 out of 10

This is a story about a husband and wife who are trapped in a fallout shelter with their 7-year-old daughter for a prolonged period following a major disaster. That doesn’t sound riveting I admit, but if you were to judge the movie on that basic premise you’d be wrong.

 I sat down to watch this movie with very little expectation that it would be anything but a bit of escapism. It’s nice to be proven wrong sometimes. The claustrophobic atmosphere was so believable I had to remind myself to breathe at one point and the lighting made me feel they should extinguish some of the candles because they must be eating oxygen! In other words I was immersed in the story – not something that happens very often.

It’s a character driven piece with enough action to keep you from tiring of the obvious psychological squirming that comes with a movie with basically three characters. The contrast in outlook between the father and mother helps with the undercurrents of tension and for once the female lead isn’t seen as a damsel in distress (often the case in this kind of movie). In fact, you can see her subtle strength without having to contrast it with a weak male lead.

The acting was top class from all three cast members, but the depth of emotion displayed by Emily Alyn Lind was wo

rthy of an award. She held her own with the adult cast members, often stealing a scene without appearing to put much effort into it.

I’ll admit the third act seemed to be moving away from the overall tone of the movie but it was highly appropriate and prevented it from becoming too arty and predictable. All I’ll say is if some studio doesn’t see a TV spinoff from this movie they must have been living in a fallout shelter for the past couple of years.