The Hide (2008)

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Excellent and surprisingly engaging for a slow two man play.It is a pleasure to see films made in such limited spaces with just two performers convincingly delivering the excellent script. The director manages to keep the viewer engaged and somehow the tension increases despite the potential limitations.Enjoyable throughout.

On the windswept Suffolk mudflats creaks a bird-hide, inside which hovers Roy Tunt (Alex MacQueen), a prematurely aged bird watcher. He has almost seen every bird on his list when a mysterious stranger on the run enters his shack...I must be honest right off the bat, I probably did not give this film the full attention it deserved, simply because of the thick British accents and my being a little bit sleepy. Let me turn my unprofessional viewing into a warning for others -- if you cannot handle accents or slower-paced films, do not watch this. This is not a "party" film or a "drinking" film. It is a real piece of art.That being said, this film is 80% writing, 20% acting. Directing, of course, plays a role, but this comes down to the story, the conversation, and the way the two men take part in it. We are given piece by piece, not really knowing anyone's full story. In film, do we ever know anyone's full story? No. But here, it is even less apparent. Make no assumptions, this film is ready to curve at any moment and give you whiplash as it goes.Now that I said that directing was not important, let me back up a bit on that. The cinematography was beautiful, with just enough darkness to give the cramped, isolated feeling necessary for this tale. It also looked highly professional, by which I mean it looked better than the budget would seemingly allow. I must give complete credit to the crew for giving the film this look -- I absolutely hate the trend in independent film where it has a sterile, home video appearance.I need to give this film another shot, especially knowing what I know now (like I say, the film curves a few times). I should also look more into bird watching... just yesterday I found out about the brown-headed cowbird. And this guy has a whole list of birds he is tracking down...

When I read the premise of this film it sounded fantastic: a brooding thriller, set entirely within a birdwatching hide on a remote beach, where two strangers meet and struggle to hide their dark secrets. As I sat watching it, I realised something shocking: this film was completely, unwatchably awful. The entire blame can be laid on the script, which is so dull and lifeless that I was never "entertained" for a minute.Past masters of the single-set thriller, like Hitchcock with ROPE, may have made a better job of directing this filmed play but I doubt even that. Whether there was supposed to be any build-up of tension and menace during these long, pointless conversations I don't know.Then, in the last ten minutes, there's the kind of over-obvious twist you probably guessed within the first ten minutes, a highly silly reveal that makes little or no sense whatsoever and only serves to destroy what realism the film had to begin with. A bad ending to what is an extraordinarily poor film.

Roy, a somewhat retentive middle-aged loser, hunkers down in the eponymous hide --a birdwatching shed on the marshes -- apparently hoping to spot the one rare bird that has eluded him so far. Into his little haven comes lurching Dave, a towering, laconic figure with a secret. The two men warily circle each other as their respective pasts slowly unspool.This is a wonderfully low-key little film with a wonderfully simple set-up that slowly but surely ratchets up the suspense as it goes along. What powers it so beautifully is the acting, which is just stunning. Phil Campbell, new to me, at first exudes weary menace which gradually gives way to a greater sadness, and Alex MacQueen, as Roy, deserves awards to be showered upon him for the performance he pulls off here. Better known for playing stuffy and/or supercilious characters on TV, here he plays Roy with a dweebishness and deadpan humour but keeps a deeper vein of underlying tension bubbling under before it erupts entirely. He manages to be both irritating, vulnerable, clueless, tragic and frightening all at the same time, and delivers some real laugh-out-loud moments amid the suspense.Unfortunately, when the truth comes to the surface, the film begins to lose its power: The motives, once revealed, are outlandish and unconvincing and the film subsequently slips into the melodramatic. But, even then, the acting from both of them is never less than top-notch, the chemistry between them lights up the screen, and the finale, deftly delivered, stops the heart.