By Robert Scucci
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2018’s 10×10 is such a irritating film as a result of, when you’re actually into psychological thrillers, you’re going to assume, “Oh god, right here we go once more.” I felt the identical approach once I first began watching it, however for each setup that feels inventory, generic, and achieved to loss of life over the many years, there’s an surprising, deeply satisfying payoff ready across the nook. It’s your typical guy-kidnaps-girl premise that you simply totally count on to go a sure approach. It doesn’t. There are such a lot of shifting elements that the entire thing turns into a masterclass in misdirection.
Clocking in at simply 88 minutes, not a second is wasted in 10×10 as a result of it merely doesn’t have time to meander. What you get is a tense, claustrophobic thriller that continually subverts your expectations, by no means totally letting who’s the nice man and who’s the dangerous man. Lesser movies (The Glass Home is presently streaming on Netflix) lay all their playing cards on the desk and soften their very own affect. 10×10 performs every thing near the chest, most of the time pulling a wildcard that adjustments your complete dynamic the second it’s revealed.
Man Kidnaps Woman, So It Ought to Be Apparent What’s Going On … Proper?
10×10 does Robert Lewis (Luke Evans) no favors as a result of he instantly comes off like an unhinged maniac. He kidnaps Cathy Noland (Kelly Reilly) in broad daylight, shoves her within the trunk of his automobile, and drives to his distant luxurious home, the place he has a padded, soundproofed room hidden behind a false wall. Cathy will spend most of her time right here whereas Robert goes about his life as if nothing is out of the strange, with the added caveat that he’s recording every thing occurring inside her new jail cell.
Cathy, rightfully terrified, proves she’s resourceful by breaking out of her zip ties and finally overpowering Robert, who guarantees he received’t kill her if she provides him one piece of data: her actual identify. Cathy repeatedly insists she is who she says she is, however Robert refuses to imagine her, suggesting he is aware of extra about her than he initially let on. It turns into clear he’s been following her for months, ready for the fitting second to seize her for causes that aren’t totally revealed till they completely need to be.
Right here’s The place It Messes With You
One factor that originally rubbed me the fallacious approach about 10×10 was how inconsistent Robert appears on the outset. He’s fastidious to a fault, however doesn’t repair his storage door. He’s cautious about protecting his tracks, but dumps his firearm right into a kitchen drawer alongside further zip ties and different incriminating equipment. He’s calculating, however he’s sloppy. I had a tricky time reconciling these contradictions till I spotted what was really happening.
As 10×10 pushes additional into its kidnapping plot, we study not every thing is what it appears, and possibly Robert isn’t essentially within the fallacious right here. Don’t get it twisted. If you happen to’re kidnapping ladies and holding them hostage inside your house, one thing is clearly damaged upstairs. The problem is Robert’s motive, and no matter secret he’s making an attempt to pressure out of Cathy, who by now has fought again savagely greater than as soon as, can actually take a beating, and is certainly hiding a horrible secret.
Throughout the first 10 minutes of 10×10I thought-about turning it off. 5 minutes later, I reconsidered. By the second act, I used to be hooked. Each time I felt completely sure in my evaluation of the film, the rug received yanked out from beneath me. It gave me that sick feeling in my abdomen that I solely get once I’m genuinely glad to be bamboozled so many occasions in fast succession.
10×10 is the sort of film it’s important to earn enjoyment from, particularly when you love a stable psychological thriller. It begins out wanting predictable, and when you’re not affected person sufficient to see it by, you’ll miss some legitimately sharp twists that maintain touchdown effectively into the third act.
As of this writing, 10×10 is streaming on Netflix.