EDEN LAKE - Directed by James Watkins - 91 minutes

A couple goes away for a romantic weekend break at an old lake retreat, which turns sour, to worse and eventually deadly. Steve (Michael Fassbender) and Jenny (Kelly Reilly) must try to survive the woods and hide from violent teens, without their car, phone and any salvation.

REVIEW An depressing, extremely haunting and hard-to-watch film that isn’t for the faint hearted. James Watkins’ directorial debut is engaging and manages to keep this twisted story going without falling into too many cliches.

His lead actress Reilly, star of films such as Mrs Henderson Presents and Sherlock Holmes, is superb and uses her extensive time onscreen well. She knows how to capture a lasting impression and with limited dialogue, she provides more depth than its less-than-desired script.

It was weird seeing Michael Fassbender in this film with a small part, which is a shame because he was advertised as the lead actor. I suppose his bigger part was in Steve McQueen’s directorial debut Hunger, the biopic of Bobby Sands, which was released around the same time as this film. If you haven’t seen Hunger, go check it out - he (Fassbender as Sands) is flawless in it. Nevertheless, the film was very focused on his on-screen fiance (Reilly). 

What lets the film down is that it was very woeful and downtrodden. There is no happy resolution and its characters don’t seem have to any morals or remorse. Even the helpless and naive Jenny turns very sour by the end. Jack O’Connell’s character wasn’t human, he was a pure evil murderous monster. Is that the message we’re suppose to gain from Eden Lake, that any human can be influenced to rebel, act out or kill? Quite possibly, but teenagers? Maybe that’s just not a world I want to believe in. 3/5

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