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Being a lover of independent horror, it’s always great to find a lesser known film lurking on Prime video, and Hippopotamus was one such recent discovery.

The film, directed by Edward A. Palmer, emerges with a premise that might initially lead one to dismiss it as yet another entry into the well-worn captive-girl subgenre. Yet, this film, operating on a micro-budget of merely $5,000, surprises and subverts expectations, demonstrating that innovative storytelling and strong performances can often eclipse high-budget extravaganzas.

Hippopotamus opens with stark simplicity: a young woman named Ruby (Ingvild Deila) awakens in a sterile basement, her knees severely injured, rendering her immobile. Her captor, Tom (Tom Lincoln), soon appears, laying down the chilling premise that she will remain his prisoner until she falls in love with him. This scenario, redolent of many a horror and thriller, sets the stage for what one might expect to be a tale of torment and psychological manipulation.

"How many others, Tom?" The first official UK trailer has debuted for a low-budget contained thriller titled Hippopotamus, the feature directorial debut of a young British filmmaker named Edward A. Palmer (aka Ed Palmer), giving us something akin to Saw or 10 Cloverfield Lane. Norwegian actress Ingvild Deila stars as Ruby, a girl who has been kidnapped, but her kidnapper doesn’t want a ransom. He wants her to fall in love with him. Of course he does. The amazing Dp Roger Deakins described the film as "mesmerizing" after seeing it at the Plymouth Film Festival. Hippopotamus was shot while Edward was still at university for a mere £5,000, then it toured to over 20 festivals. It will be releasing in the UK coming up soon (straight to VOD it seems) though there's still no Us date yet. This looks quite good, I'm curious to see where it leads to. Here's the...