Movie Review: ‘OPEN GRAVE’

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One can’t help but be intrigued by the premise of Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego’s (Apollo 18) film, Open Grave. It begins when a man, played by Sharlto Copley (District 9, Oldboy), awakens in darkness with absolutely no clue where he is, or whom he is. He has in his pocket only a set of keys and a Zippo; he uses the latter to illuminate the strange place he has found himself in and discovers with disgust and horror that he is at the bottom of a pit full of corpses.

Amazingly, his cries for help are answered when a woman tosses in a rope. When he climbs out he finds himself in the middle of a dense wood, with no sign of his rescuer. Wielding a gun he found lying loose amongst the bodies, the man wanders through the forest until he finds a large house. He barges in on a small group of people; three men and two women—one of them, his rescuer. While they are all seemingly strangers, they each have one thing in common: no memory of who or where they are.

Everyone has a driver’s license on them, and can take on the name that is given to them, except for the man from the pit, who remains an enigma even to himself. The group wanders around the property, learning things about themselves as they go (what languages they know, what skills they have), and becoming increasingly disturbed with each new discovery. The woods are dotted with dead bodies tied to trees, and buildings that conceal strange people, all either unwilling or unable to communicate.

The woman who seems to know the most (our protagonist’s rescuer) does not understand English and cannot speak, so any answers that she may have are a mystery. She can convey only one thing—that something is going to happen on 18^th, a date rapidly approaching.

Sharlto Copley is the only actor in the cast I’m familiar with, and he gives an expected strong performance. The rest of the cast meet their marks, as well, especially Josie Ho, who hasn’t a single line in the film.

Open Grave is consistent in tone—which is gritty and bleak—and pacing. The film is under two hours, but be assured it is a slow-burner. While I’m certain there is enough going on to keep some viewers hooked, I wasn’t one of them.

That being said, I still think Open Grave is a highly original and well though-out film. One of the things that was interesting to me was that the audience has this peculiar connection with the characters in the sense that neither viewer nor character know any of the details of the plot, and therefore you are picking up clues and piecing them together essentially at the time. While it definitely isn’t the only film to have this sort of quirk to it, it was something I found somewhat intriguing about Open Grave. However, not knowing anything was making me a bit frustrated, but that is perhaps simply one more thing I shared with the characters.

By the end, you’ll find that the film is actually a creative take on a familiar trope. Even though this flick didn’t thrill me, I would still encourage those who like films with a gradual build to take a dive into Open Grave.