River

In response to correct other reviews, in the train station you are likely to see many Thai Buddhist monks as the train is an economical way to travel. They are not Tibetan Monks as one review stated and he spends most the movie trying to get away from the Laos police, not Thai.

I enjoyed this film, I think the panic and suspense was heightened throughout and I generally thought It was well acted out, I didn't know who the lead was until I looked him up after the film so my review has no bias, a good film. Not quite the fugative but elements are definitely inspired by it.

John Lake (Rossif Sutherland) is a doctor working for an NGO in Laos when he gets told to take some time off after a bit of 'stress' in the work place. So he heads to a peaceful part of the country for some 'r and r'. Then he sees a sexual assault taking place between a tourist and a local girl. He intervenes – and it does not take very long for things to go very bad, very quickly.

Now that is the synopsis and to say anymore would be a bit of a plot spoiler, however this is a thriller so you know that there is going to be a lot more to this than just the above. And it manages the thriller part really well; the acting is all very good too as is the direction.

This is one of those films that goes for down to earth realism rather than sensationalism and that helps it achieve the necessary level of authenticity that means that I, for one, was able to empathise with the characters and engage more deeply. This is one of those films that seem to have slipped by unnoticed, which is a pity as this is one that is very much worth checking out.

Despite a lot of shaky camera work, the moral of the story is: Miscarriage of justice, if you are 'well connected', the powers that be will always win! Give it a watch!

American volunteer doctor John Lake (Rossif Sutherland) works with Dr. Stephanie Novella (Sara Botsford) in a rural Laos medical clinic. He's on a holiday in the south when he comes upon a Australian tourist assaulting an unconscious local woman. He's drunk and things spiral out of control.

This needs a bit more setup on why he would be so afraid of the local police. He's running right from the start and that needs some explaining. I'm willing to buy it to some extent but it would help to give him more reasons to run. He's overdoing the jitteriness. He's running without a plan. He's running without a reason sometimes. He's not running from the American government which was my greatest hope for an explanation. Even if he gets back to the US, he'll be extradited back to Laos or Australia under the political pressure. I don't think he's doing rational things unless the movie explains itself better. I do like the exotic locations and I also like the redemptive ending although it's a little too late.