Locked In

This forgettable Netflix thriller is poorly directed, acted and written that I felt ' locked in' and couldn't do anything to turn it off.

Laura would have loved to have tortured me with this junk!

It's unthrilling in its storytelling- no tension, suspense or action so it doesn't grab the audience from the beginning.

It's look is purely TV , a unfocused ,dimly lit splurge- that midway through Laura thought she was watching a TV show by asking" how many episodes is this?" The only thing frightening and creepy is Famke Janssen's face job!

It's also hilarious to see a hospital utterly devoid of other people/patients: day or night- believe me there's always someone about.

When Netflix finance films for their network - Reptile being a prime example, they do it with style and finesse, here it's tedious, bottom of the barrel mid 90s direct to DVD schlock.

Former actress and Hollywood star Katherine wakes from a coma, but is unable to communicate, helped by Nurse Nicky Mackenzie, who tries to unlock the causes of her injury, only her daughter in law seems to have the answers.

Once again, it's curse of number one on Netflix, a movie that on paper should have been very good, but ultimately disappoints.

It's like one of those plush, but dodgy 1980's afternoon movies, if only Katherine had been given a Range Rover, Golden retrievers, a perm, spritz of Fidji, and a box of Terry's All Gold.

A tale of hidden passions, vengeance, loathing and dark secrets, it's hard to care for a single one of them, they're all awful people.

I didn't care for the storyline, or the over the top music, it all jars, it's so clunky.

Famke Janssen does a good job as Katherine, she plays the Lady or The Manor very well, but ultimately she is wasted, she's better than this.

What I want to know, why is this number one, who's actually watching this and enjoying it?

Poor, 5/10.

Locked In is generically a modern Gothic story. British, manor, orphans, illness, love affairs, duplicitous characters, plots within plots, etc. All of that, the movie does well.

Do we need another Gothic mystery of orphaned child becoming entwined with a decaying family and its manor? Probably not. Do the actors move past the 2 dimensional nature of their characters? Decidedly no. Does the story line bring anything new or ingenious to the story? A resounding no.

Part of the issue I see is that the main character is the young orphaned girl and her movement into this family and the machinations of the plot. She's not that interesting of a character. And the narrow focus that the film takes toward her shuts out the other characters from being able to provide much richness to the story.

This harkens to the great movie and story of Rebbeca in many ways. But that film allowed other characters room to play, and the uncertainty of motivations and conniving increased the sense of tension and dread. As a copy or comparison of that, this films decidedly missed the mark. As a display of a Gothic story, it does all right.

With her mom in a coma, a young woman named Lina tries to come to terms with the events leading up to it, while her nurse tries to uncover the mysties surrounding the strange injuries to her body. I'd say this is a film that gets better the more you watch through it. I did feel however Anna fris seemed our of place. The nurse character iaent really part of the story and doesn't do anything to make it better but I like her as an actress so it's still nice seeing her. I feel bad for Jensen as she can't move her mouth fully anymore. I thought the mystery element was good though and if it were more gritty it could be even better.

Movie starts slow and takes its time to set out background and character relationships. Expect to be less engaged until the midway point. From there, the movie picks up its pace and the viewer can expect to question what's going on until the end of the film. Who is the victim? Who put this woman in the hospital? Is the woman in the hospital not as helpless as she seems? What is up with Lina? Well this nurse is about to find it all out, so pay attention.

I'm landing on a 6 for this one because it's good and keeps you guessing. A 7 and above needs to be excellent++ and this one falls short just slightly but still worth the watch.