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In previous write-ups and reviews I've mentioned my affection for stripped down, single location thrillers. Put a couple of people in an intense situation. Add in a few twists and turns. And we'll wrap things up in about 90 minutes to get everyone home happy and entertained. Which is why I'll give movies I don't know much about like today's flick The Bad Shepherd a shot. And sometimes...that's a mistake.
The Setup
The film features a group of friends on a hunting trip who make a horrific mistake. They accidentally hit and kill a woman with a bag full of cash with their car. A situation that goes from bad to worse when the men decide to cover up their crime and keep the money for themselves. Almost as if on cue, a stranger arrives that seems hellbent on turning the men against each other.
The Bad Shepherd is a premise I generally like. Put a giant pile of money in between a bunch of people with problems that could be solved by said money and ratchet up the pressure either because of where the money came from or the people involved. This is why Sam Raimi's A Simple Plan is so effective. The choice seems easy at first, but it quickly snowballs and will turn up every unresolved conflict you can imagine. Because when the dollar amounts are that big, the temptations are too and someone is going to come looking for it.
And on the surface, this is exactly what this movie is aiming for because almost right after the first crime happens, the men participate in a second even worse crime and now the boulder has been pushed from the top of the hill.
Unfortunately once the men arrive at their hunting lodge, the movie starts down an unfortunate path. Not that it's obvious at first. The stranger that arrives has the air of an Italian gangster in look, accent, and the way he talks. And he constantly talks about how this is "his money" and encourages the men to give it to him. But because this much money invokes paranoia, everyone is convinced this guy must have backup somewhere so they go looking for trouble...which are also potential witnesses. Every move they make is leading to a bigger body count because if you've already killed someone or want to ensure someone stays quiet...you're only going to think of one solution.
These sequences are genuinely terrifying as different members of the group either reveal their true character or are forced to do things they really don't want to do for the group's sake. And we've got a built in justification for everyone having firearms and knowing how to use them because this is a hunting trip.
Our strangers seems to know all of this better than the men in front of him and uses their insecurity to turn them against each other.
And then he starts revealing information that is impossible for him to know unless he personally researched these men by saying "I know a great many things." But they're things that no one would know and...a shit this is gonna have some supernatural nonsense in it isn't it?
Now I'm not against thrillers with supernatural elements. That's basically the horror genre. What I don't like is the "surprise" supernatural element. Like a gotcha that no one could possibly expect because we've been operating under the assumption that this is in some form of reality. You can dunk on movies like mother! if you like, but it's hard to deny that said movie veils its metaphorical elements. It's pretty clear from the jump.
Basically it's a trump card that a script can incorporate to make things easier or to insist that their movie has a strong "message." When, again looking at a movie like A Simple Plan, the complications are baked in, even if you're tryin to keep your budget down. A fella coming looking for his money or being nearby makes perfect sense. And he can be savvy and especially savvier than a bunch of randos who at best know how to use a hunting rifle but have never threatened or been threatened by another human being.
It all basically works until this supernatural element drops because we're not learning about the characters through their actions or what they chose to reveal about themselves. We're being told. Part of me wonders if this is a contrivance due to a small budget. You had maybe two locations and didn't want to pay for more actors.
But for me, if you're going to drift into unreality, make it abundantly clear from the jump. Then I can adjust my "movie logic" accordingly versus feeling like I was tricked.
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