Black Bags

Black Bags is more of a suspense thriller than an action thriller. It deals with a bus trip and the mistake that occurs when two young women, one of them pregnant, exchange their black, identical suitcases, apparently unaware of the problem until they arrive at their respective destinations.

The pregnant young woman is called Tess (Olesya Rulin) and the other woman, somewhat older and also quite psychologically disturbed, is Sara (Laura Vandervoort). They had been talking during the trip and apparently had sympathized with each other. But when Tess discovers a drop of blood on the carpet she decides to open the suitcase and to her horror finds a human head torn from its body. So when Sara rings the doorbell to exchange suitcases, Tess only feels like running away and not seeing her because now she considers her a highly dangerous psychopathic killer.

The interesting thing about this low-budget film is that it reveals things as it goes along and in this way the situation that seemed accidental gradually takes on a more sinister tone until it reaches its outcome that ends up explaining the whole situation.

It is a great interaction of these dissimilar personalities, the apparently homely and pregnant woman and the distraught and somewhat irascible mysterious traveler who confesses to having a seriously ill daughter who needs a very expensive treatment to cure her. Laura Vandervoort, who is the actress best known for the TV series she acted in: Smallville, V and Bitten, V-Wars and some films such as Into the Blue 2, The Reef and Coffee Shop did a very good acting job as did her co-star Olesya Rulin. The low budget of the film is not an obstacle for the story and the acting of the two protagonists to be a highlight that elevates this film to the category of very interesting. At least in my humble opinion.