Retreat – 2011 | 90 mins | Thriller | Colour

Plot Synopsis

Generic psychological thriller that marks the directorial debut of director/writer Carl Tibbetts. Referencing claustrophobic chillers such as Dead Calm and Knife in the Water, Tibbets modestly-budgeted film toils in trying to crank up the sexual and psychological tension and resorts to an uncertain three-handed power-game that moodily meanders without finding a satisfying conclusion. Murphy and Newton are convincing as the troubled married couple that have forgotten how to relate to each other, whilst Bell revels in an eye-catching and meaty role far that makes him unrecognisable from the gentle Billy Elliot. The windswept location cinematography in Wales is gorgeous and lends the film a foreboding atmosphere.

Journalist Kate (Thandie Newton) and her architect husband Martin (Cillian Murphy) are an estranged couple who return to the secluded island of Blackholme to recover from the personal tragedy of a miscarriage and mend their disintegrating relationship. Cut off from the outside world, their attempts to recover are interrupted when an injured soldier arrives with news of an airborne global pandemic that is sweeping through Europe. Kate and Martin are unsure whether the unhinged stranger’s story is true or whether they have taken a dangerous individual into their home, and thus a dangerous game of cat and mouse ensues as suspicion and fear grip the trio.