Unknown (15)

If a low-budget thriller by a first-time writer and director doesn't sound too promising, think back to the debut of Saw and remember how a simple idea developed into a complex horror-thriller that took the world by storm. Where Saw descended into brutality and slaughter, Unknown examines the psychological depths of the situation. Who can be trusted? How quickly can you remember who you are? And when you do remember, how do you decide if you still want to be that person?

The strength of this debut is in the talent of the actors. Character names are hard to mention since the storyline has them suffering from amnesia, but the roles are well acted and there’s a great deal of suspense since viewers, have no idea who are the good guys and who are the bad guys trapped in the warehouse. Fragmentary memories and a two-day-old newspaper suggest the men were all part of a kidnapping. The question is: Who are the kidnappers and who are the kidnapped? Part of the fun is having 80 minutes to figure out what happened, before the characters do. What is shocking is the mysterious chemical that erased the men's memories seems to have also dissolved their driver's licenses?

On its own, this could have worked as a great one-set thriller like Phone Booth, with characters engaged in a battle to gain the upper hand as their memories slowly return. But as the movie expands its visual and narrative field with flashbacks and cutaways to action, the story is opened up to the outside world, in which cops scramble to catch up with the kidnappers. Unfortunately, the pacing is slightly off, with the action switching between the imprisoned men and the police, and what should be an increasing sense of urgency inside the warehouse, weakens. It seems as though the outside plot exists merely to break up the repetitiveness of a single set, which would have worked much better.

This punchy and entertaining thriller has intense suspense music at the start to get you in the right mood before your thrown into the action; a continuation of this in other parts of the film would have added even more anticipation. The audience are subject to reversals of dominance before arriving at the ending to which comes a twist. Just when you thought that the situation had come to a conclusion and you’ve figured things out, filmmakers throw a twist to surprise you, which it will. It was great to be thrown off balance when you thought you had just gotten your footing. The script hits a few speed bumps, with energy in scenes where truth is revealed and twists taken, but drained in scenes connecting these moments, but this is hardly noticeable.

This film has tremendous actors, an amazing plot and a twist that will have you gob smacked. If you are looking for a film that will put your mind to the test and get you thinking, and not just watching actors go though the motions, this is a film for you.