Synopsis: Two men – one in his twenties, the other nearer forty, both intensely focused on the task at hand – line the inside of a transit van with plastic. Shopping, they buy a drill, a mattress and other supplies. In a small flat they assemble a bed for the mattress and staple foam insulation and board to the walls and windows of a bedroom. Then, their meticulous preparations complete, they kidnap a young woman. They drag her from the street into the back of the van and, with a bag over her head and a ball gag in her mouth, take her back to the flat, tying her to the bed in the room they have converted into a prison cell.
The kidnappers are Danny (Martin Compston) and Vic (Eddie Marsan), two ex-cons planning to make a mint on the ransom for the young woman. The younger, nervier of the two, Danny defers to the more experienced Vic, who acts with a steely conviction. Their hostage is Alice Creed (Gemma Arterton), daughter of a rich businessman, chosen by Vic and Danny as their passport to a better life. Terrified and immobile at first, it some becomes clear that Alice isn’t about to leet her captors use her as capital without a fight. As determined to escape as Vic and Danny are to succeed, Alice enters into a battle of the wills which strains the already fractious relationship between the two men. As the deadline for the exchange draws nearer, all three are brought close to breaking point, with Vic and Danny’s foolproof plan descending into a desperate struggle for survival.
A taut, emotionally intense thriller, the debut feature from writer-director J Blakeson eschews genre convention, generating tension from the sexual and psychological ties that bind captive to captors.
WHO’S WHO IN THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED
Starring: Gemma Arterton, Martin Compston, Eddie Marsan
Director: J Blakeson
Screenwriter: J Blakeson
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Production Companies: CinemaNX
Original Music: Marc Canham
Cinematography: Philipp Blaubach
Film Editing: Mark Eckersley
Production Design: Ricky Eyres
Art Direction: Sally Black
Costume Design: Julian Day
MOVIE TRIVIA
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense
Runtime: 100 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated R for violent content, pervasive language and some sexuality/nudity
Filming locations: Douglas, Isle of Man
TRAILER: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED
Sources: IMDb: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED; Rotten Tomatoes: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED; Official website: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED
