Oct 27, 20192 min read

Locked In short film review

★

Starring: #ChantelleAlbers, #MarkCarapezza

Boring, limp and tiresome, Kevin Hoffer’s attempt at a mystery thriller about a woman trying to discover why she is trapped in a warehouse is never able to get off the ground. Locked In falls into several traps of trying to use less as more, with Chantelle Albers's character of Meg wandering around the location just talking to herself about the situation. No hook is derived from this set-up, Albers moves from one area to the next voicing her confusion for why she is there but there no urge to care from the audience. The film opens with Meg being attacked by a man and then waking up in the warehouse but Hoffer’s direction is unable to create an ounce of tension for Meg’s situation, is she in danger? Is the man still there? What is her goal in this story?

The main issue with Locked In is with Peggy Lewis’s script as there is no discernible character or personality to the film. Meg’s dilemma becomes very obvious when the first flashback occurs but Lewis and Hoffer don’t seem sure what they want to do with the film. There is no commentary, there is no thematic relevance it is a just an actress moving from room to room in an empty film. The conclusion of the story is troublesome not because it's obvious but that there is no proper set up to take the audience there, the film barely provides the answers to the questions it scarcely asks.

Leading the audience through this aimless endeavour is Chantelle Albers's performance, who is not terrible and would probably thrive in a role with far better writing. Alber’s tries to give humanity to Meg’s character as she searches the warehouse for her fiancé Jack and answers to why she is there. However, without any tension and any escalation to the story, Albers is just left meandering, the revelations from the flashbacks not driving the story forward or her character in any meaningful way. To fill dead air, the script has the majority of Alber’s dialogue recounting her actions for the audience, she’s constantly asking why this happening but makes no effort to take of charge of the situation or the story.

Locked In is very bland, even the warehouse that Albers finds herself trapped within has no allure. The music that plays over the end credits is the most engaging piece of the film but at that point, it’s all moot. Meg’s story is one that has very little if nothing at all to care about with no interesting filmmaking to salvage any element of the film.

#CoreyBulloch #shortfilmreview