EDEN LAKE

A young couple goes to a quarry to visit it before it is demolished, finding themselves camping at Eden Lake. The place seems quiet and welcoming, but from the first day, a group of hoodlums starts to bother them and play various pranks until they steal their car. The man, furious and scared, goes to retrieve it, but in a scuffle, he accidentally kills the dog of the gang leader, Brett. This starts a merciless hunt by the gang against the young couple. "Kill the tourist in the woods" is a classic horror game that has been served in all forms and "Eden Lake" brings it back again, but with what new elements? The main one is that here the "lite" arises from some pranks of some kids aged 16 to 12 who start to stalk and try to slaughter our two protagonists, following a dramatic but accidental event. "Eden Lake" thus takes us into a claustrophobic forest where the prey, despite their age and certainly more developed musculature than the executioners, are a couple on the verge of marriage. It is difficult to speak ill of a film like this where not only the plot and screenplay work (despite the base not being the most original) but also all the other elements that compose it, thus giving us a really interesting, adrenaline-filled, and cruel product. The kids quickly stop making us feel pity and become unsettling tops out of control, unable to control themselves and be guided by emotions that seem too immature in them to keep them in check. Well managed is the whole gang of bullies in which each one manages to manifest a different psychology, sparing us the banalities, with intriguing and conflicted characters, each in their own way, in the choices but meanwhile all submitted to the leader Brett. The atmosphere that is breathed is then unsettling thanks to a well-balanced photography that remains on interesting contrasts and that is surely well exploited by an excellent direction that often gives us interesting and sought-after images at the same time. Interesting are also the themes addressed where not only bullying is put into play but also the inability of parents to manage their children and the difficulty of fighting for one's life against children under the legal age. We are not spared some cruelty either from the bullies in question or from the couple who resort to cruel acts against them, similar to those suffered. The ending, although a bit predictable, is surely impactful. Another note of merit goes to the cast that works very well and in which we find actors of the caliber of Michael Fassbender ("Shame", "Prometheus") and Kelly Reilly ("Flight") in the role of the couple, while the mostly unknown young actors (among whom we recognize Jack O'Connell and Thomas Turgoose of the equally excellent "This is England") stand out for an excellent interpretive and expressive ability. James Watkins will then direct "The Woman in Black" but this remains, so far, surely his best film. Is "Eden Lake" the "most terrifying and cruel thriller of all 2008", as its tagline reads? If not, it certainly comes very close.