The Ones Below

I kept waiting for a twist, or SOMETHING to keep my interest, but it never came. "Gas Light" for a first time mom. The best thing about it was Gene Pitney singing "Take Me Tonight" at the end. Why this song? That was the only unpredictable thing in the entire movie. And the ending was crazy and totally illogical.

Great cast, great performances, great direction...but the script...it was as if the writers either got bored of the whole thing or hastily finished it on deadline day.

An absorbing, at times very tense buildup, hints at something possibly occult going on, but then a rushed ending that didn't need the buildup! It begins with a kind of Rosemary's Baby feel to it but the plot and tension builds to a certain level then remains there at that pace for the rest of the film.

Well worth watching, but just enjoy the actors and mood and don't expect to be blown away by any clever plot twists and turns.

It should have been shown as a Sunday evening BBC2 play or something.

'THE ONES BELOW': Four Stars (Out of Five)

A British thriller flick, written and directed by David Farr. It stars Clemence Poesy, Stephen Campbell Moore, David Morrissey and Laura Birn. The film is about a couple, that's expecting a child, that gets into severe conflict with another couple, expecting their own child, that lives beneath them. The movie got good reviews from critics, and I enjoyed it as well.

Kate (Poesy) and Justin (Moore) are expecting their first child. A new couple, named Teresa (Birn) and Jon (Morrissey), just moved into the apartment below them; and they're expecting their first baby as well. The two couples meet, and have dinner together. Something goes horribly wrong, and the couples find themselves at great odds with each other.

The film is very slow-building, at first, and that really tried my patience; but once the story really gets going, the movie becomes very interesting. The characters are all really well written, and acted. The film is also nicely stylized, with creepy, and sometimes very unsettling, atmosphere. The twist at the end is not that shocking though (not nearly as much as the filmmakers appear to think), and (again) the first half of the movie is very slow-paced.

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Well Acted and Suspenseful Psychological Thriller that is held Down by an Obvious Ending that is Telegraphed in the Second Act. There is No Twist to that and once the Twist is No Longer a Twist, everything is Less than it could be.

The Ending is also Drawn Out like it Thinks You didn't see it coming. Oh My! Didn't Everyone? So the Third Act is a Ho Hum, get it Over with affair. It isn't a Bad Movie just one that is Short on Surprises and in a Psycho-Thriller that's a Death Sentence.

The Cast tries hard and the Emotional Dial is set at 10 most of the Time and it makes for some Engagement and Intrigue, but it really has Nowhere to Go after the Middle. The Movie is Shot with some Style, but the Familiarity with the Story is its Premature Problem.

Overall, Worth a Watch but Ultimately a Let Down for those accustomed to this Type of Thing. A Good Effort Overall, but Average or just Slightly Above.

Character buildup. For most of the movie. Too bad they are so two dimensional it hurts, some drastic change of behavior is supposed to be intriguing when it's just a welcomed announcement that things are actually moving towards the ending, which is obvious right from the start.

Don't miss the blatant, obnoxious plot device near the middle, or you might actually get surprised by some detail at the end. The Hand That Rocks The Cradle even had that more subtly, in addition with a decently paced script. Which is another crappy movie, but fairly entertaining for its time.

Acting isn't bad, until daddy throws his fit, but the plot is bad, predictable, and dare I say, unimaginative. A TV movie from the 80's.