The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2010)

Undescribable Perfection

Excellent but underrated film

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The movie is limited by the small number of characters and set locations. It's a bit contrived and perhaps a bit exploitative. It certainly has its twists and surprises, which are the fun of it. Heck, even the title of the film is a spoiler.

Former prison cell mates Danny (Martin Compston) and Vic (Eddie Marsan) kidnap Alice Creed (Gemma Arterton) for £2 million ransom. Vic is the controlling lead who has a detailed plan. Alice is carefully restrained by the pair. Alice catches Danny by surprise and he reveals a shocking secret.This movie has a couple of big twisty reveals. They are big, twisty, and unforeseen. There is a problematic aspect with the first reveal that I don't buy. Alice shouldn't react that way although it could be that she's flustered into making a mistake. The ending also has some more twists and turns. I may prefer a more straight up action sequence. This is overall a good tiny confined thriller.

This British thriller film is about Alice Creed who is kidnapped for ransom by two blokes( Vic and Danny), they take her to a flat with soundproof walls and tie her to a bed while they wait for the money from her father. The film is straight to the point.The film gives off a very tense atmosphere in the first 45 minutes or so as we see Vic and Danny overlooking Alice. Some of the scenes are uncomfortable to watch but of course that adds to the tension. Gemma Arterton gives a fantastic performance.I really liked the way this film was going but it took a turn for the worse just over half way through. There ended up being too many twists and turns and in the end it became too far fetched. It was very gripping when they kept it simple, just the 3 of them in the room. Silly decisions were made and all sorts of relationships were discussed and it just became unbelievable. It was too complex when it really didn't need to be.Overall it is a good watch but I feel it had potential to be an excellent film had they kept it simple.7/10.

Extremely tense, beautifully shot, generally well (if not quite brilliantly) acted, this is a clever and effective exercise on making an exciting film on a tiny budget. Even though about 75% of this kidnapping tale takes place in a two room apartment, director/writer Blakeson finds enough effective and compelling ways to photograph his tiny set, and enough sharp plot twists and reveals that any claustrophobia becomes a plus not a problem. There are a few times when credulity is stretched, and a few plot turns that have that sense of being a 'clever twist' instead of something organic to the characters or the story (you can feel them as they're where the acting is less strong, you can see the actors strain to make them 'work'), but neither shortcoming is enough to keep this from being a highly entertaining, and even ultimately oddly touching nail-biter.