Detained

Detained is a strong contender for worst film of the year so far, I haven't seen a thriller this insanely overblown and outlandishly meaningless since... I dunno. It's sad to see a classy actress like Abbie Cornish stuck in this crap, playing a young woman who wakes up in a police station and is grilled by two hostile detectives (Moon Bloodgood & Laz Alonso) about a supposed hit and run that she has no memory of. Of course that's not really what's going on, and once the film gets past that initial setup and tries to orchestrate a bunch of stupid twists that it thinks are oh so clever, you'll abandon all hope of making sense of it. It tries everything to impress; weird double crosses, red herrings, nonsensical plot turns and even an eye rolling Keyser Soze angle that makes it feel even more like a try-hard ripoff. I have seen thrillers that walk a fine line in making sense of their more bombastic elements and even some that don't, but get a free pass on sheer energy and enthusiasm alone. This one gets neither; it's loud, mean spirited, lazy storytelling of the worst kind.

I grew up on the Twilight Zone and love the genre - even when the delivery falls short. So when I see a low budget film like this, I just imagine I'm putting on a modern Twilight Zone episode and just enjoy it for what it is. There is something lovely about a closed set and a variety of actors with diverse motivations and a Cube or Usual Suspects flavor that is just fun for its own sake. You can't watch this hoping for a Fincher outcome and then ding it when it doesn't meet that expectation. That said, if they had tightened the script a bit more and done a few more takes for some of the emotional moments, it would have landed better. Give Mucci some dollars and let him make another one. I kept thinking I saw flashes of inspiration that might prove profitable next time around.

I think my opinion is pretty popular here, which is that this is a decent low-budget thriller. It's nothing extraordinary, and nothing you're going to want to watch again or recommend to your friends; but it's an enjoyable way to pass the time. Good for anyone looking for a decent thriller to throw on and has already watched all the main ones.

There are parts of this movie that are slow, and a few parts where I zoned out entirely. However, for the most part, it's pretty interesting and there are some really engaging moments. On top of that, there are decent twists and you don't always know where it's going.

Abbie Cornish! A gem. I wonder why we don't see her more in A bracket movies.

Detained has an interesting premise and plot, but clearly it's a budget production. There are some really awesome scenes and twists, but you should pick this one if you need more of a pass time activity if you just want to sit down and nap, rather than hoping for something you'll remember the next day.

If a few kinks and cliches would've been ironed out, the film could've been very good. I was debating myself between giving 5 stars or 6 stars, but clearly there are better pieces in this genre to pick even on the budget side.

Looking forward to seeing Cornish in upcoming productions, she's really good.

Rebecca Kamen (Abbie Cornish) wakes-up at the interrogation room of a derelict precinct that will be renovated without any recollection of the previous night. Detective Avery (Laz Alonso) and Detective Moon (Moon Bloodgood) interrogate her about a hit-and-run, and her smashed bumper is the evidence. Det. Moon interrogates Robert (John Patrick Amedori) and Det. Avery brings Rebecca to hear what he is saying. She recalls that she flirted with him in the bar where she was drinking and then went to her car to make out and she might have been drugged. Rebecca lawyer up, and the lawyer Isaac Barsi (Justin H. Min) visits her at the jail. She says that he is not her lawyer, but he explains that he works in the same office, and she is in Tokyo. Rebecca is left in a jail with Jess (Josefine Lindegaard) and Sullivan (Silas Weir Mitchell) and her friend Sarah (Breeda Wool) visits her and indicates her to run. When Sullivan becomes violent in the jail, Det. Moon tries to contain the prisoner, but her weapon falls from her hand and Sullivan is suffocating her. She asks Rebecca to shoot him with her weapon, but the shot goes through him and hits Moon. The angry Det. Avery brings Rebecca to his office, and she offers one million dollars to him to forget the incident. He asks two million dollars and when Rebecca is ready to transfer the money, she notes something wrong and suspects it may be a sham.

"Detained" (2024) is an intriguing low-budget thriller, with great storyline, screenplay and performances. The plot keeps the viewer tense from the beginning to the end and surprisingly it is underrated in IMDb. The duel between Abbie Cornish and Laz Alonso is excellent, but the identity of Javon is easy to find in the end. The conclusion shows who is who. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Detained"