Sarah (Elizabeth Olsen) is helping her father (Adam Trese)
and uncle (Eric Sheffer Stevens) to renovate the family’s old lakeside house
before selling it. It’s a place they have rarely visited in years. Local kids
have smashed all the windows and blown the electrics meaning that the boarded
up windows let in no light. The only light available is that which comes from a
torch or handheld lamp. While in the semi darkness and after her uncle has left
for the day, Sarah hears a noise which her father goes to check out. He never
returns. Sarah is left alone in the house with someone or something out to get
her and her family and no way out.
The whole film was shot in such a way as that it looks like
one continuous shot. I noticed the odd cut here and there but overall the idea
is very successful. It genuinely feels as though Elizabeth Olsen is in the
house for 85 minutes, running, hiding from and fighting whatever is after her.
Using just one camera, Olsen is on screen for about 84 of the 85 minutes and
has to carry the entire film. She does so with great aplomb. The one shot idea isn’t
original and indeed the film itself is a remake of a 2010 Uruguayan film but it’s
a nice gimmick that is well used.
