Still, things start off cheerfully enough as they arrive at their rustic woodside lodge, kicking off a night’s carousing and flirting with two village girls - albeit to the consternation of surly male locals, of whom only the older, community-minded Logan (Tony Curran) makes friendly overtures. Yet when the lads, a little worse for wear, head into the woods the next morning, catastrophe strikes: After training his rifle on an obliging deer, Vaughn shoots, only for an interloping child hiker to get fatally caught in the firing line. With a dead boy suddenly on their hands, the shell-shocked men somehow worsen matters in self-defensive panic, with Marcus’s macho rashness and Vaughn’s passivity making for a precipitous pile-up of bad decisions as they cover their tracks.Īll that, and the film’s just getting started. The fallout from this horrific accident proceeds in ways that are both grimly inevitable and gut-knottingly uncertain, as the villagers gradually sense something amiss - and Palmer’s poised Hitchcockian tension tactics give way to a more visceral rush of horror. It will be fascinating to see what they both do next.ĭid you know? Writer/director Matt Palmer makes a brief cameo as villager walking in the background.An Olivier Award-winning stage actor now settling into a quietly potent, empathetic screen presence, Lowden impressively holds it together through all these key changes, even when his character emphatically does not. With a brand new Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, a worldwide release on Netflix and a flurry of positive reviews, Calibre is both an outstanding debut feature for Palmer and the jewel in the crown of Wellington’s impressive body of work. This subtle balancing act only ramps up the sense of tension and intrigue, and renders you in a state of constantly guessing as to what will happen next. Similarly, the film refuses to simplistically portray its characters as good or bad, instead painting both parties as equally deserving (or undeserving) of our sympathies. ![]() Never relying on cheap thrills or shock tactics, Calibre often either avoids showing the more savage acts of violence, or presents them in the blink of an eye, making them far more effective and realistic. Together, the pair maintain an almost unbearable level of tension right up until the film’s bloody, ferocious conclusion. Credit must also go to his editor, the veteran Chris Wyatt, whose previous credits have included Dead Man’s Shoes, This Is England, God’s Own Country and ’71. There’s a tenacious efficiency to Palmer’s direction that sees any excess in plot stripped away, leaving a film of pure muscle. Calibre is both an outstanding debut feature for Palmer and the jewel in the crown of Wellington’s impressive body of work His relationship with McCann’s Marcus has an air of believability that rings true from the opening scene and never deviates. McCann also excels as the wilder of the pair, leading from the front when it comes to chatting up girls, getting in to fights, taking drugs or, once tragedy has ensued, deciding the pair’s course of action. ![]() ![]() Rising star Lowden, who recently shone as Collins, the downed Spitfire pilot who barely survived Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, provides another display of why he is amongst the most sought after young British actors working today. Vaughn (Jack Lowden) and Marcus (Martin McCann) decide to take a weekend away from their urbanite lives to go hunting in the wilds of Caledonia. Leaving behind a pregnant fiancée, Vaughn is clearly more in need of a break from life’s worries than the seemingly more easy going Marcus. After an opening night of heavy drinking, the pair set off on a stag hunt that quickly turns into an unthinkable tragedy, setting off a chain of events that will have disastrous consequences. outsiders motif from the likes of Deliverance or Straw Dogs, but successfully avoids familiarity or cliché. Rather, Calibre is a film that constantly keeps you guessing, providing silence when you expect bloodshed and chaos when you expect calm. Starring: Jack Lowden, Martin McCann, Tony CurranĪ weekend getaway to the Scottish highlands descends into a living nightmare for two life-long friends in Calibre, the debut feature from writer/director Matt Palmer. Produced by Nottingham’s Wellington Films - the team behind 2006’s London to Brighton – this gritty British thriller evokes the locals vs.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |