Since I've recently subscribed to Netflix (which was one of the smarter decisions I've made in my life and I do not regret subscribing to it one bit), it's opened up doors to movies I never would have ever seen, since they would never see the light of day either. Well, some of them won't.

One of the movies I picked up on this site for Instant Play is a movie called "Blackout." This movie focuses on three people who are in a struggle with their lives. These characters are all trying to get back to their apartment rooms in order to do something very important and in a rush. But when they get on the elevator, it suddenly stops in the middle of its ascent. Not because of a mechanical error, not because the elevator is old and crappy, but because of a city-wide blackout. In the middle of the summer. During a heat-wave. That sucks. So now these people are trapped in an elevator. The thing is, one of them is a serial killer.

As the movie progresses, you find out more about their background and the events that happened to each character that lead up to the reason why they all need to get to their apartments in such a hurry. And soon we find out who the killer is, and as they're stuck on the elevator longer, tensions rise, and trouble brews between the characters to the point to where the true serial killer comes out of one of them, and the other characters must protect themselves in any way they can.

This movie is a low-budget independent film, which is the reason why I never would have seen it if it weren't for Netflix. And I'll have to say that this was a fantastic film. It starts off pretty slow, getting to know each of the characters, but it holds your interest. These are people that are interesting to watch and they interact fairly well. The acting is a little hammy at first, but once these characters are familiar with their conflict, they really step it up a bit and some pretty good performances come out.

The filmmaking is remarkable. It's films like these that turn a boring setting, such as an elevator and an elevator shaft, and turn it into something that's stimulating to the eyes. They turned it into some roller coaster ride, squeezing through door cracks and flying through the shaft and floors of the building that make it seem like you can go through floors and walls. The camera angles they used were perfect to really set the tone, using the mirrors inside the elevator to good use. I kind of wish that they could have also done something to really set the claustrophobic tone to being stuck in an elevator with the heat slowly rising to an unbearable temperature. I was even under my covers watching this because there was too much sunlight coming into the rooms, even with the blinds shut, and being underneath those covers getting hot added to the effect, but not enough to the point where I started to get claustrophobic (and trust me, if I were in this situation, I'd be flipping shit, due to my claustrophobia).

The story was pretty neat. I kind of wish that the synopsis didn't tell me that one of the characters was a serial killer because without knowing that, this movie would have been a hell of a lot better. That would be the kind of twist that I wanted to see. If the synopsis said, "Tensions rise when one of the characters reveals a dark secret about their past," it still would have kept my interest, and even though being a serial killer would have been a guess of mine, I think it still would have shocked me when it was shown. The thing is is that each character has a possibility and potential to be a killer: one has blood on them, another is a punk who seems like they can get in trouble frequently, and the other is an odd wealthy person, so it still keeps you guessing on who it can me. Unfortunately, I made my guess five minutes into the film, and it turned out I was right.

Apart from the slow beginning, this movie really keeps you watching. The characters get themselves into trouble, their arguments really set things off, and there are very suspenseful moments that'll make you think that the entire elevator is going to break off its rails and fall into the ground. The last ten minutes of this film had me on edge, and I felt for the characters (apart from the serial killer towards the end) to where I wanted them to live. I felt for the characters to the point where I wanted them to live, instead of not caring if they died. They were well rounded out to where I was rooting for the good guys and felt bad for them when something happened. And the last elevator shot was incredibly well done...SPOILERS, showing the inside of the elevator before it goes crashing to the ground floor with the serial killer inside of it.

The ending felt just a bit flat for me. I wanted more closure. MORE SPOILERS: The last scene was of one of the main characters in the hospital, and the doctor came in to deliver some bad news, and the character asks, "Why do things like this happen?" And the doctor says, "I don't believe things happen for a reason, blah blah blah, it's all random, they just happen, blah blah blah." And then I was expecting a flashback of what WOULD HAVE happened if the elevator didn't get stuck, and all the characters made it to where they needed to go. I don't know how much more story they could put in there. I'm sure it'd be interesting to see what the serial killer would do next if they got away, and what the other characters would do if they didn't get stuck in the elevator.

But other than that nit-pick, the ending wasn't so bad.

Now, I normally have a bad taste in movies, so I may be praising this a little too much to how it really was, but I really enjoyed this movie. It was suspenseful, well directed, and I thought the script was pretty good. Some of the choices the characters made were kind of dumb, like how they thought about opening the elevator doors and screaming for help an hour after they got stuck, or thinking about climbing on top of the elevator two hours after getting stuck. But those were small things that didn't distract from the story. This film, in my opinion, was very well-made, and if you have Netflix and want something to watch one night when you feel like watching a thriller movie, then consider watching this.

Sean

I watched this movie to make sure it was nothing like my 7WC script with the same titile. I also watched it on NetFlix... I was bored stiff however.  

Yeah, this movie isn't everyone's cup o' tea, but it really interested me, and I normally go after pretty bad movies, so I wouldn't be surprised if I'm the only one who ends up liking this flick. And don't worry, Pia, I could have assured you that this was nothing like your script

Sean