The Backwoods
By Cory Peynado, Blockbuster.co.uk

Sporting one of the coolest moustaches in history, Gary Oldman grabs his double barrel and heads off to the woodlands for new thriller ‘The Backwoods’. A dark low-key tale about failing relationships, overbearing suspicions and murder! (I should have said murder first, would have had more impact) either way, things don’t go well on this little French getaway.

Directed and co-written by Spanish Director Koldo Serra, the pace of the movie incredibly distinct. Characters are built slowly and a tension is noticeable from the outset. The performances are also actually one of the strongest merits of the film. Paddy Considine seems to fit every role he plays these days and his thorough portrayal of a man at the end of a crumbling relationship is pretty much spot on.

The story follows Lucy (Virginie Ledoyen) and her husband Norman (Paddy Considine). They decide to take a break and visit Paul (Gary Oldman) and his wife Isabel (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón), some old fiends they have in the countryside’s of Spain. The men go off hunting while the ladies go to the lake and sit on the shore, chatting and sharing a cigarette.

While exploring the woods the men come upon what seems like a deserted farmhouse. Inside, Paul hears a muffled sound behind a chained door. He forces it open to discover a deformed young girl. The men decide to take the girl with them back to the cabin in an attempt to protect her from whoever was keeping her locked up.

The women try giving her some water but the girl can only drink it on the floor like an animal. They try to take the girl to the authorities in town but the axel of their car breaks and they are forced to return home. The next morning a man from the village, Paco (Lluís Homar) comes knocking on their door with two of his brothers and a cousin. They are looking for a little girl that has gone missing.

From here the story gets more and more interesting. Despite the slow moving pace you do feel that the film was nested on the Alfred Hitchcock saying, “the thought of something bad about to happen is worse than the actual event” or something like that and this statement is absolutely true. Your forced to keep watching merely to find out what happens and how the events will unfold.

All in all it’s not too bad a film. Oldman is notably the fuel that keeps the engine running here, but the suspense keeps things ticking along until the films rather dubious conclusion. Worth a watch if you want to see what commissioner Gordon might do in his spare time.