HELP
Directed by: Blake Ridder
Starring: Emily Redpath, Sarah Alexandra Marks, Louis James, Blake Ridder
A breakup with her boyfriend leads Grace to travel to her friend Liv, to celebrate the birthday of Liv's boyfriend, Edward. While things start jovial enough, it soon becomes apparent that there are dark currents at work and not everything is as it appears to be…
With his feature directorial debut, renowned film-maker Blake Ridder deals with the tricky subject of spousal abuse in psychological thriller made within the restrictions of Covid lockdown.
The film starts with Grace and her current boyfriend, Chris, splitting up over the phone. Even though they declare their love for each other, Grace seems distant and non-committal while Chris is overbearing and makes an unreasonable demand that she cannot be expected to meet - this is his way of being able to blame her lack of commitment as the reason for their split.
Does anyone else find this seating arrangement….off?
Grace's trip to see Liv and Edward seems to be unplanned, as the pair are a bit surprised to see her but glad all the same. The pair live in an amazing house out in the countryside, with only one set of neighbours, a mentally disabled man called David and his unseen mother.
It doesn't take long for the audience to pick up on words and phrases which suggest that not everything is rosy between Liv and Edward. Or perhaps, given the type of film this is, we automatically start trying to read between the lines and perhaps end up hearing what we expect to hear. As the audience avatar, Grace soaks up all of the information being presented, both from Liv and Edward, either together or separately. And, like the audience, is prone to eventually have the same suspicions.
The film is a slow burn and because the destination is so apparent the pacing can be rather frustrating until the film hits its final third, when that growing sense of unease finally boils over and actions start to replace conversations. What is fascinating is that at this point the audience and Grace kind of part ways, as she seems to be so in the thick of it she can't be thinking straight.
Help is very well-shot, with three leads who handle the material well. Both Louis James and Sarah Alexandra Marks have worked with Blake previously and since on his short films, while Emil Redpath is relatively new to the screen, although you wouldn't know it from her performance.
THE VERDICT
Help is a film which is already courting controversy thanks to its theme of domestic violence but Blake Ridder's script delivers a compelling scenario which has a couple of tricks up its sleeve. The pacing does hurt the delivery and unfortunately the final shot of the film feels like a mis-step, however overall this is a decent feature debut and we look forward to seeing his short The Manor being blown to feature length next.