No stranger to plying his trade within the circuit of genre festivals that showcase his low-budget efforts, indie writer and director Simon Rumley has taken his alternative sensibilities to Thailand for his next feature. Set in the leafy suburbs of Bangkok, religious thriller Crushed follows pastor Daniel (Steve Oram) who lives a quiet, comfortable life with his devoted wife May (May Nattaporn Rawddon) and Olivia (Margaux Dietrich), their 10-year-old daughter. However, following the mysterious disappearance of their cat Miss Kitty, Olivia is kidnapped and the family’s faith is tested when their distressing search exposes them to the depths of humanity.
In an early conversation with a teenage family friend, Olivia is asked if she has “ever seen a horror movie” before being forcibly shown a home-made video of extreme animal cruelty that’s been going viral around the neighbourhood. As you would expect, she is traumatised but filmmaker Rumley smartly leaves the content of the clip to the audience’s imagination. What develops from there is a horror movie narrative of sorts, but with none of the stylistic flourishes we’ve come to expect from the genre. Minimal music, no jump scares, but a plot that will chill you to the bone and a slight shaky-cam technique that gives it’s a visceral sense of realism.
“God will help us” says Daniel in the early stages, naively confident that his close connection to the cloth will ensure the safe return of his daughter. Known for his more comedic roles in the likes of Sightseers or The World’s End, lead actor Steve Oram conjures a very type of performance here. Nuanced and simmering, his devotion and hope diminishes as he comes face to face with Stanley (Christian Ferriera), the villain of the piece who gives a soulless portrayal of malevolence. A crude split-screen moment pits them across a table but side by side, good and evil personified in this intense yet intriguing tale of redemption.
Crushed premiered at Edinburgh International Film Festival on 16th August
Cinema Perspective 