A married man is on a car journey with his wife and daughter. They stop only for a brief moment, but an accident occurs. The daughter falls. Panic quickly sets in and although she appears ok, the father rushes to the hospital to help his little girl. When they get there, strange things start happening and his family end up disappearing.
The film starts with Ray and Joanne arguing following a family meal. It’s clear their marriage is not in a good place although Ray is determined to save it. Peri (their daughter) worries that she’s lost something so Ray searches through the back of the car while Peri waits outside. A dog approaches Peri and Ray tries to save her from this dog, but Peri ends up falling backwards into a bit with Ray diving in after her.
Initially, it looks like Peri might be seriously hurt. Joanne begins shouting at Ray and he pushes her aside. The next moment, we see Joanne by Peri’s side and that Peri is alright, but only has an injured arm. The three of them rush to the nearest hospital and that’s where things start to go weird. The staff don’t appear to be very helpful and are very pushy regarding organ donation and blood type. It takes a long time before Peri is called in for an MRI which doesn’t make much sense as it’s her arm that’s broken, but Joanne and Peri enter the elevator and descend. That is the last time Ray sees them.
Naturally, he becomes panicked by his missing wife and daughter, but when he tries to find out where they are, the hospital claims that they were never there. Thus begins the film’s real journey; what happened to Peri and Joanne?
So I’ll try not to give too many spoilers as then the film won’t be worth watching. Firstly, the acting of the cast is incredible, especially Sam Worthington who conveys perfectly a damaged man but one you sympathise with. He desperately seeks out the truth and believes that the hospital is covering up what really happened to his family.
I had no real idea of what to expect when watching this film. It’s from 2019 so it’s relatively new but I hadn’t heard anything about it until I saw it on Netflix. The good news is, I was pleasantly surprised! The cinematography works perfectly in making you (the viewer) feel uneasy. It’s not clear what’s going on but there are also clear hints. It’s a story told from Ray’s perspective and that’s the perfect way to experience this thriller. It’s one of those that keeps you guessing until the end. Some people said it’s predictable but of course, you can make a guess what will happen and you can be right, but that doesn’t mean you knew what would happen (if that makes sense).
It’s one of the more scary thrillers as there is some gruesome imagery but also, it just feels sinister. The music puts you on edge as do the colours used and acting. Again, it all allows you to understand Ray’s perception.
My favourite thing about this thriller, is that every possible outcome feels realistic. The main two theories presented *slight spoilers here* is that either Ray is losing his mind, or the hospital did something to his family. There are real life stories of people being murdered for their organs and as this family is in an unfamiliar place, this hospital can easily be hiding something as can the people in the town.
I don’t have that many negatives to say. It was a well written film that was executed well also. A lot of people were disappointed with the ending, but it felt somewhat realistic. Everything tied together nicely. I was confused by a couple of camera shots and the significance. For example, there is a ‘get well soon’ balloon that is shown a couple of times. I can guess the significance but it didn’t feel that representative of anything. The other thing was the dog. It was a strange looking dog that I felt would be representative of something as it was all really strange, but in fact, it was just a dog. Those kinds of things frustrate me as psychological thrillers and mysteries should be clear with what everything means.
Overall though, if you like thrillers, this is definitely a film you should check out as there’s a good chance it’ll keep you guessing until the end. Just be warned, it can get quite dark and a little gory.
My Rating - 7/10