Locked In Review (2023) Netflix Film: Immediately Bringing The Viewer Into The Heart Of The Story
Cast: Finn Cole, Rose Williams, Famke Janssen
Director: Nour Wazzi
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3/5 (three stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
From November 1, 2023, Locked In is available on Netflix. The online streaming platform Netflix kicks off a twisty thriller in November. The protagonists of the cast of the new film are Finn Cole, Rose Williams, Anna Friel, Alex Hassell, and Famke Janssen. But what is he talking about? At the center of the scene is Lina, who is unhappy and finds herself against her husband Jamie, and her mother-in-law Katherine. The woman begins a relationship with the family doctor, Robert Lawrence. From this moment, a chain reaction begins that puts everyone in danger. Take a suffocating family, the character of a centralizing prima donna who does not accept a secondary role, and a girl who, in one fell swoop, embodies her fears of losing the personal and economic security she has acquired throughout her life. Then, add a love triangle, a near-fatal accident, and a murder and you’re done. Here Netflix has served up its early November thriller.
A film that tries to ride the noir atmosphere of a Halloween that has just passed but which, as can be seen in the review of Locked In, delivers a rather predictable narrative structure, in the plot as in the atmosphere. At least for those who aren’t exactly fast in this genre. Directed by Nour Wazzi and starring Rose Williams and Famke Janssen, therefore, the film features all the essential elements, almost as if to compose a recipe with guaranteed success. A result obtained stylistically but which, as anticipated, adds nothing to this type of narrative and which easily leads to the solution of the case. Even before this is resolved by the diligent nurse next to the now-helpless Kathrine. Therefore, a partly missed opportunity, given that the technical implementation and the starting idea, although not original, could have led to a more interesting and complex psychological plot.
Locked In Review: The Story Plot
Katherine is a young and attractive woman, used to attract the gaze of men and her audience. She is an actress in a television series she has achieved success and is a rich husband to rely on for every inconvenience. In her life, therefore, she seems to have achieved all the goals she had set for herself. She understood being the absolute master of a large mansion. At least until she suddenly finds herself widowed and deprived, at least from a legal point of view, of any economic recognition. Her husband leaves everything to his son Jamie, a sick child suffering from frequent epileptic seizures. Thus, in the blink of an eye, she finds herself a prisoner of that large house without being the master of it anymore, in the company of a stepson for whom she has no particular affection, and Lisa, the daughter of her best friend adopted after her mother’s death.
And it is precisely her presence that represents a relief for the woman and, above all, a way to free herself from the unwanted duties of a mother. The girl begins to constantly take care of Jamie’s health conditions, while Katherine once again takes over her social and working existence. A choice, however, which leads the two boys to become ever closer and to form a particular pact of dependence. The same one that, years later, leads them to marriage. In this way, therefore, Lisa becomes the effective owner of the large estate, relegating Katherine to the role of guest. At least that’s how the woman feels. The girl has no intention of ousting her. Indeed, for her adoptive mother, she feels a feeling of affection conveyed by her gratitude. The souring of their relationships, however, is inevitable. The two come into conflict. A condition that will make it very easy for a man to enter the scene, whose intentions are certainly not the best.
This is Jamie’s doctor. The same one that he deals with from the whole family and who, with a persuasive manner, manages to insert himself into the emotional cracks created between Lisa and Katherine. In particular, it identifies the girl’s weak point, her need to breathe compared to the suffocating atmosphere that surrounds her, and the need to free herself from the emotional and practical burden that Jamie represents with his selfish and perpetually needy attitude. But how much of all this is real or just created by a series of drugs prescribed and administered with a specific purpose? Is it a coincidence or a well-planned plan to the detriment of the entire family by an external element also eager to take over their wealth? The answer to this question comes with a far-from-random accident against Katherine. The same one that reduces the woman to a kind of larva within the syndrome called Locked In. So she, unable to move every single muscle, thanks to her eye movement alone, tells us her story about herself. You just need to be willing to listen to it.
Locked In Movie Review and Analysis
Locked In is a lurid thriller that is ultimately too tame for its good. The film has all the ingredients of a gripping mystery: a beautiful and enigmatic coma patient, a remote country mansion, a cast of suspicious characters, and a dark secret that is slowly revealed. However, the film never quite delivers on its promise. The pacing is slow and the plot is predictable, with few twists or turns to keep viewers engaged. The characters are also underdeveloped, making it difficult to care about what happens to them. The film’s only saving grace is its cast. Anna Friel is excellent as the determined nurse, and Famke Janssen is suitably mysterious as the coma patient. Finn Cole and Alex Hassell are also good in supporting roles. A body lying motionless in a hospital bed inside the neurological department and a diligent nurse who persists in wanting to find a way to communicate. With an alphabetical table in her hands facing the patient, she spells out a letter from time to time.
The task of the paralyzed and helpless woman in bed is to highlight, with just the blink of an eye, the different elements to compose a word and try to communicate. And the first word she actually “uttered” was murder. With this small measure, therefore, Nour Wazzi immediately highlights the concept of suspense, bringing the viewer into the story in no uncertain terms. A solution that clarifies things regarding the type of narrative that will come and, above all, can turn on the warning lights. In short, therefore, the game begins, you enter the “discover the murderer” mode, and, to do so, you accept to be transported even into the most intricate labyrinth. It’s a shame, however, that this initial leap corresponds to a very simple and linear narrative structure. The same one which, by referring to the classics of the genre, clearly shows the next steps.
The limit, objectively, is a story that does not have an innovative plot, and which has already been told in many different forms. Despite this, however, inside it has a rather strong psychological heart. An emotional core within which we had to investigate in greater depth, delving into the ambivalent relationship between two women, in the spirit of competition that arises, in the love triangle and, above all, in the different forms of psychological manipulation present. All elements that are only touched upon which, from time to time, create the illusion of a new trail to follow and shed light on. The moment, however, in which you are introduced to this, you bitterly discover that the path presents no rough edges or mysteries. Indeed, every shadow immediately acquires light in a game of predictability and constant anticipation.
Going beyond the purely aesthetic aspect of the film, which plays on the flattened colors of the interior and exterior, the suffocating environment of the large house, and a general sense of decadence, the first element to work on with a certain depth would be the relationship between Katherine and Lisa. There are many emotional implications between the two. The bond is born already sick, as a sort of act of charity on the part of a person capable of buying love but not making it born. For Lisa’s part, she is a perfect counterpart. Alone, without her mother, fascinated by this beautiful and vital woman, she lends herself to being her ideal emotional victim. Hungry for love she carries out every action only to have emotional recognition from Katherine. Over time, this sort of emotional dependence, therefore, creates the ideal terrain for building a true psychological thriller based on the contrast between the two women.
A terrain which, moreover, is easily exposed to external attacks and to be, in turn, used for actual machination. A vision, this, at the basis of the director’s intentions but soon, gets lost in a sort of sterile bickering between the two without any actual type of provocative depth. In this sense, therefore, the deeply ambivalent relationship between Katherine and Lisa becomes the motivation for the epilogue but not the driving cause of the entire machination. A missed opportunity, not only because it would have offered the opportunity for a more complex narrative structure, but it would have given the two characters the opportunity for an evolution that was functional to the entire story.
Another essential element in Locked In is psychological manipulation. This, in particular, is exercised by every single character of Lisa who appears to be the most fragile element. Jamie, sick and needy, has almost moral power over her. The same happens with Katherine, to whom she feels bound by an inevitable gratitude. Finally, then, comes the external element, the explosive one, to complicate the overall picture. In this sense, therefore, the passion for the family doctor could have had an important narrative power, finally representing the dark side of an entire story and highlighting the unpredictable aspects of a character considered positive until that moment. A role that one takes on, if it weren’t, once again, for the superficiality and predictability of certain events.
These do nothing but quickly discover details, implications, and, above all, the future evolution of the story. And for a psychological thriller, there is no worse antidote than predictability. In this way, therefore, not only are Lisa’s fragilities quickly identified but, above all, how the lover acts on them to obtain his final goal. In doing so, therefore, the character is manipulated but not the spectator who, after a few minutes, develops an absolute awareness of how events will go. The only doubt is the fate of the diligent nurse who is able, with a real blink of an eye, to unmask the whole game but who, despite the promising incipit, remains completely on the fringes of the story.
Locked In Review: The Last Words
Overall, Locked In is a decent thriller, it is a watchable film, but it is unlikely to leave a lasting impression. The film begins with a promising incipit capable of immediately bringing the viewer into the heart of the story and preparing him to search for the culprit. It’s a shame, however, that the development of the story completely disregards the promises of the beginning, offering only a linear and predictable path within which the overall picture is all too clear. This is despite an aesthetic rendering of the environment in which shadows and darkness reign supreme. Locked In is a watchable thriller with a good cast and intriguing premise, but it is ultimately too tame and predictable for its good. The film’s slow pacing and lack of suspense make it difficult to stay engaged, and the underdeveloped characters make it difficult to care about what happens to them.
Locked In Review (2023) Netflix Film: Immediately Bringing The Viewer Into The Heart Of The Story - Filmyhype
Director: Nour Wazzi
Date Created: 2023-11-01 13:07
3
Pros
- Good cast, with strong performances from Anna Friel and Famke Janssen
- Intriguing premise
- Well-shot and atmospheric
Cons
- Slow pacing
- Predictable plot
- Underdeveloped characters
- Lack of suspense
- Unrealistic depiction of coma patients and locked-in syndrome
