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BLACKWATER LANE
Director: Jeff Celentano Cast: Minka Kelly, Dermot Mulroney, Maggie Grace, Nataile Simpson, Alan Calton, Judah Cousin MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:48 Release Date: 6/21/24 (limited; digital & on-demand) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | June 20, 2024 Two plots are running simultaneously running through Blackwater Lane. One is right in front us, as a woman with apparent memory issues begins to fear that she might have murdered someone and forgot it, that the actual murderer might be stalking her because she saw too much, or that her mind is in such disarray that neither of those possibilities is reality. The second plotline is happening off-screen, of course, because it's the real cause of all the protagonist's problems, and since this is a very unbelievable mystery, none of that can come to light until the last possible moment. If the filmmakers gave us too much time to think about the mechanics of the hidden plot, we'd probably think it's even dumber. It's obviously and quite dumb with even the little time the movie spends explaining it, in a climax that feels disconnected from the rest of the story. It has to be that way, because the inevitable showdown relies on assorted characters doing things that don't make sense, creating elaborate ruses that don't even hold up within the narrative, and having characters explain what has happened at inopportune times or to people who definitely have more important things about which to worry. Elizabeth Fowler's screenplay, adapted from the novel The Breakdown by B.A. Paris, barely makes sense from the very beginning, though. That's some level of consistency, at least. The plot revolves around Cass (Minka Kelly), a drama teacher in a small English town who lives in a lavish country manor with her husband Matthew (Dermot Mulroney). On the last day of classes, Cass decides to head out to a local pub with her fellow teachers—including John (Alan Calton), who clearly has a thing for her—to celebrate the end of the school year. Driving home on a dark road through the forest, Cass spots a car on the side of the lane. It's raining this night, so Cass can only barely make out the shape of a woman inside the car. As the character inches closer and stares inside the vehicle, director Jeff Celentano suddenly fades to black—a technique that happens often here whenever the movie wants to hide some information or stop us from thinking too much about what has just transpired. As it turns out, Cass just drove away from the scene. She didn't get out to see if there's someone in the car or, if there is, if the person needs any help. She didn't even flash the lights or honk her horn or anything else that might get a living person's attention, but it wouldn't have mattered, anyway. There was a woman inside the car, and she was murdered. The reasonable thing to do, of course, would be to call the police. Cass doesn't. Well, she means to call an anonymous tipline set up by the cops to tell her story, but she forgets or, for some reason that doesn't make much sense until later, worries she might have had something to do with the woman's death or, if we're going with the idea the movie wants us to believe or does a terrible job concealing, actually did kill the woman. Eventually, a detective (played by Natalie Simpson) shows up at the manor, starts asking questions, and finds it very suspicious that Cass has done nothing at all this entire time. Cass' actions here depend on only two possible motives. If she killed the woman, she's trying to cover it up. If she thinks her memory is slipping, she's evading the notion she might have murdered someone and forgotten it, and sure enough, Cass begins forgetting her husband's schedule, while her best friend Rachel (Maggie Grace) points out that she forgot to buy a group gift for a mutual friend. She also begins to hear noises and see shadows moving through the house, but when she checks them out, there's nothing or no one there. All of this starts after the murder and Cass' delay, so why would Cass think she suddenly started having significant enough gaps in memory that she could kill someone for no apparent reason and completely forget it? The whole affair is a cheap game, in other words, that has little internal logic, as it depicts Cass apparently losing her mind out of paranoia and/or guilt. Blackwater Lane leads to a solution so simple yet convoluted that the ridiculous setup somehow makes even less sense by the end. Copyright © 2024 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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