"The Privileged" begins as a legal drama where two attorneys and their wives meet at a cabin retreat. But as the night wears on, the situation of the couples becomes more and more violent. Bodies begin to pile up, and the only survivors remaining are the privileged.
The film had excellent potential to explore how the disenfranchised Linley family members are overwhelmed by the rich and powerful Westwoods. But in the characters of Preston and Julia Westwood, dumb luck seemed to play a greater role than privilege.
Richard and his pregnant wife Tara seemed at first glance to be decent people. Richard, who felt ethically compelled not to use the Koslow file in a recent case, has been reprimanded by Preston. The meeting at the lake house will determine whether or not Richard is fired.
But the film took a turn toward the macabre when both Richard and Tara kill two of the locals. Tara kills a man who was about to murder her husband. But when Richard strangled the old-timer John Fox, who was a multi-millionaire, the film no longer became a drama about the privileged.
By the end, all three of the Linleys are dead. They lost their land due to the greed of the Westwoods. But the death of John Fox, Richard Hunter, and pregnant Tara seemed gratuitous, adding only an element of sensationalism to the film.
There were moments in the escapades of the Westwoods and the Hunters that nearly became farcical. The most ludicrous scene was when Preston began firing flaming arrows into a barge full of corpses. We never learned the actual contents of the Koslow file. We only know that it was private and confidential and that it was the springboard for the long day's journey into night.
The film had excellent potential to explore how the disenfranchised Linley family members are overwhelmed by the rich and powerful Westwoods. But in the characters of Preston and Julia Westwood, dumb luck seemed to play a greater role than privilege.
Richard and his pregnant wife Tara seemed at first glance to be decent people. Richard, who felt ethically compelled not to use the Koslow file in a recent case, has been reprimanded by Preston. The meeting at the lake house will determine whether or not Richard is fired.
But the film took a turn toward the macabre when both Richard and Tara kill two of the locals. Tara kills a man who was about to murder her husband. But when Richard strangled the old-timer John Fox, who was a multi-millionaire, the film no longer became a drama about the privileged.
By the end, all three of the Linleys are dead. They lost their land due to the greed of the Westwoods. But the death of John Fox, Richard Hunter, and pregnant Tara seemed gratuitous, adding only an element of sensationalism to the film.
There were moments in the escapades of the Westwoods and the Hunters that nearly became farcical. The most ludicrous scene was when Preston began firing flaming arrows into a barge full of corpses. We never learned the actual contents of the Koslow file. We only know that it was private and confidential and that it was the springboard for the long day's journey into night.