Negative

Not a bad movie, typical 'on the run ex-agent' movie with a reasonable storyline. The acting is a bit one dimensional but, at least where Katia Winter is concerned, that seems more down to the script that has her talk like an automaton for the first 75% of the movie. I get get it, she's supposed to be a ruthless professional but it sounds too strained. The single most annoying thing that really spoils the movie though is the male 'lead'. Seriously, a more pathetic excuse for an individual you've never seen, immature, gutless and pathetic he literally does nothing but whinge and bleat throughout the entire movie. Obviously the story needs this individual to be 'normal' and in awe of Natalie but his 'total 24/7 wimp' persona was way overdone and makes him outright annoying to the point of spoiling the movie which would otherwise have been OK, but no more than OK.

Have to write to defend this... it's a perfectly decent film.

Katia Winter (Natalie) is good, captivating even, and everyone else is fine where, except for the photographer, they perform calm, minimalist characters. It fits with the mood of the film, some nice contemplative scenes, and dialog that, while others have said is weak, is also fine. Bits of mundane, predictable conversation isn't so far from real life I suspect, and I think it adds to the film, to keep it 'small'.

Not sure I know what cinematography really is, nor directing for that matter, but it seems relatively well put together.

I would agree that the weakness is the story logic, It almost worked that there was no time spent showing how the pursuers were tracking our leads, but not quite. Even a scene or two of them just asking a shop employee or two would have been enough (there was a nice moment where the male pursuer chats to a little boy tho). But ultimately, never saying how Natalie found our photographer or why it would matter so much to our pursuers kind of gnawed at me.

Katia Winter star in this understated, psychological thriller about a British operative who ends up having to confiscate a negative from a freelance photographer of a picture he took of her in order to remain as a ghost from those who are seeking to kill her. In the process, both she and the reluctant photographer find themselves on the run. Directed by Joshua Caldwell who also directed Be Somebody (2016), a comedy romance drama that also happens to echo a similar understated tone and offers a refreshing diversion into a more realistic interplay between characters that Negative presents. Negative together with Jennifer Lawrence in Red Sparrow (2018) and Daryl Hannah in The Job (2003) allow female assassin or professional agents that emphasize the psychological drama over the intensity of special effects, explosions, and action scenes of over the top mass killings or hand to hand combat in a choreographed martial arts. At the same time, the sustainability of audience's interest is made much more difficult, especially with the marketing of Negative's trailer with emphasized the action portion of the movie much to the disappointment of a good segment of the audience.

The more authentic characters in this movie provide the audience with a more thoughtful movie about human character though the movie struggles to balance the tension along with the somewhat superficial assumption of how these two people are so easily followed. Other similar movies have been able to incorporate rather more stylized plots or characters in their own psychological drama versions of this genre such as The Numbers Station (2013), The Tailor of Panama (2001), The American (2010), and Eye of the Needle (1981) or comedic versions of this genre such as Miss Meadows (2014), The Matador (2005), Wild Target (2010), Daisy & Violet (2011), and In Bruges (2008). Negative instead remains faithful to its depiction of what might be considered authentic humans whose live intersect in psychologically traumatic ways and how they individually and collectively cope with it.

Give me back my 1.5 hour? Bad in everything. 3 stars for me ( courtesy )

'Negative' is a dialogue film about trust and courage presenting opposite characters on the run from a cartel. There are several well- acted scenes, and others that seem like alternative shots better left out. While some plot elements seem contrived, the direction and choreography work in the movie's favor to drive a sequence of captivating themes by way of conversation that trample the sleaziness and pretentiousness of lesser films, all with the backdrop of a majestic desert that connects Los Angeles and Arizona.