************** ***SPOILERS*** **************
The film starts off a little oddly with a confusing bathroom scene and then a curious decision by Tom to take his new girlfriend Lucy to a hotel for the night instead of going straight to a music festival, where they each have friends waiting for them, like they had originally planned. Nevertheless it picks up and the suspense starts to build nicely as Tom and Lucy get lost on their way to the hotel and end up passing the same landmarks multiple times. Lucy catches a couple of glimpses of a mysterious figure seemingly stalking the young couple. They are caught up in a ghoulish maze in the Irish countryside and can't seem to find their way back out. After a few more run-ins with the mystery figure the couple is starting to panic. The stalker is becoming more and more aggressive and the couple is running out of petrol. They need to find their way out. The suspense is really ramping up at this point.
...And then it flatlines. As Tom and Lucy are racing to find their way out they nearly run over a bloodied man standing in the road. The man, named Max, gets in their car and says he too is being hunted by this figure and he knows how to get out. Turns out Max is actually the stalker who has been chasing Lucy and Tom around. This would be all well and good if not for the fact that Max looks more like an IT administrator than a maniacal backwoods murderer. This is who we're supposed to be "in fear" of? The second the mystery figure was revealed all the suspense that had been building went out the window for me. I found it way more captivating when the identity of the stalker(s) was left a mystery.
My second biggest issue was the behavior of Lucy and Tom. Other reviewers have commented on their lack of chemistry, but I'm OK with that given the fact that they've only been a couple for 2 weeks and still don't really know each other too well. Where my issue lies is in the way they react to their situation. Constantly leaving their car to check things out even after they've had physical altercations with their stalker. Why are you leaving the car when you know a potential killer is following you around? They each leave their car numerous times, often alone with the other person staying put. Why would they separate? It just seems so foolish and not at all how people in real life would act.
Thirdly, the ending. It's another one of those "deep" endings where you're supposed to come up with your own hypothesis of what ended up happening. In my opinion it seemed like the writer couldn't quite come up with a good enough ending so he left it up to the audience to create their own. For some movies those types of endings work well, In Fear is not one of them.
To sum it up, this movie started out well and was building as if it was going to be a really good film. However at the climax it completely fell flat for me. I was really disappointed because up until the big reveal it had me hooked and I was willing to look past the ridiculous behavior of our young couple. In the end, though, it just couldn't maintain that momentum. I would still say In Fear is worth a watch though as it seems some people really enjoyed it.
The film starts off a little oddly with a confusing bathroom scene and then a curious decision by Tom to take his new girlfriend Lucy to a hotel for the night instead of going straight to a music festival, where they each have friends waiting for them, like they had originally planned. Nevertheless it picks up and the suspense starts to build nicely as Tom and Lucy get lost on their way to the hotel and end up passing the same landmarks multiple times. Lucy catches a couple of glimpses of a mysterious figure seemingly stalking the young couple. They are caught up in a ghoulish maze in the Irish countryside and can't seem to find their way back out. After a few more run-ins with the mystery figure the couple is starting to panic. The stalker is becoming more and more aggressive and the couple is running out of petrol. They need to find their way out. The suspense is really ramping up at this point.
...And then it flatlines. As Tom and Lucy are racing to find their way out they nearly run over a bloodied man standing in the road. The man, named Max, gets in their car and says he too is being hunted by this figure and he knows how to get out. Turns out Max is actually the stalker who has been chasing Lucy and Tom around. This would be all well and good if not for the fact that Max looks more like an IT administrator than a maniacal backwoods murderer. This is who we're supposed to be "in fear" of? The second the mystery figure was revealed all the suspense that had been building went out the window for me. I found it way more captivating when the identity of the stalker(s) was left a mystery.
My second biggest issue was the behavior of Lucy and Tom. Other reviewers have commented on their lack of chemistry, but I'm OK with that given the fact that they've only been a couple for 2 weeks and still don't really know each other too well. Where my issue lies is in the way they react to their situation. Constantly leaving their car to check things out even after they've had physical altercations with their stalker. Why are you leaving the car when you know a potential killer is following you around? They each leave their car numerous times, often alone with the other person staying put. Why would they separate? It just seems so foolish and not at all how people in real life would act.
Thirdly, the ending. It's another one of those "deep" endings where you're supposed to come up with your own hypothesis of what ended up happening. In my opinion it seemed like the writer couldn't quite come up with a good enough ending so he left it up to the audience to create their own. For some movies those types of endings work well, In Fear is not one of them.
To sum it up, this movie started out well and was building as if it was going to be a really good film. However at the climax it completely fell flat for me. I was really disappointed because up until the big reveal it had me hooked and I was willing to look past the ridiculous behavior of our young couple. In the end, though, it just couldn't maintain that momentum. I would still say In Fear is worth a watch though as it seems some people really enjoyed it.