ROW
**
Directed by Matthew Losasso.
Starring Bella Dayne, Sophie Skelton, Akshay Khanna, Nick Scaugen.
Thriller, UK, 118 Minutes, Certificate 15.
Released in cinemas in the UK on September 5th by Kaleidoscope Entertainment
Matthew Losasso’s debut feature ROW gets off to a promising, atmospheric start with its images of a blood soaked boat drifting aimlessly in the sea, gradually revealing a survivor ashore in the Orkney Islands after a traumatic experience. We quickly learn that this sole survivor named Megan (Bella Dayne), was a member of a small crew attempting to cross the North Atlantic in record time from Nova Scotia to Ireland. How she came to end up here is at the heart of the film's numerous mysteries.
Through flashbacks, we learn of Megan’s doomed voyage with her three crew mates on the small boat they use to make their difficult journey. Led by the egocentric Daniel (Akshay Khanna), Megan finds more companionship with the cheerful Lexi (Sophie Skelton). Filling out the last spot is the mysterious Mike (Nick Scaugen), a last minute replacement for original crew member Adam, unable to take part after injuring his leg. Numerous setbacks are encountered on their journey, mostly due to the hostile conditions of such a journey, but soon other, more insular, factors become more apparent, threatening to drive the small crew apart and onto their mysterious fate.
The premise at the heart of the film is an intriguing one, if not wholly original. Recalling the likes of other sea-bound movies such as OPEN WATER, it soon becomes apparent that despite the impressive location work, filmed around Caithness both in the sea and in a large water tank, there is little else here to stop the film coming adrift in its own way.
The two hour running time drags the film and its scant plot out for far too long. Despite the infinite sea and sky surrounding the characters, the setting becomes stifling. Lost in a state of limbo, the characters find themselves adrift in a set of circumstances that are all too familiar from a large number of sea movies: dwindling supplies, extreme weather, malfunctioning equipment, and the crew turning on each other. With a tighter running time Losasso may have been able to craft something that would grip the viewer by condensing such elements into something with a bit more pressure and tension, rather than the lethargic pacing that lets each potential incident peter out to increasingly lesser effect as the film lists aimlessly more and more as it goes on.
By the time the film arrives at its underwhelming conclusion, it feels hard to care. There is a faint subtext of female repression and commentary on ‘he said,she said’ testimonies and how such a thing is often perceived, but this also is underdeveloped. Of course it is completely unfair to compare a first time filmmaker, especially when attempting something like this under such challenging conditions, to Alfred Hitchcock of all people, but look at what he did with a similar setting in 96 minutes in LIFEBOAT from 1944. While Losasso should be lauded for achieving a convincing atmosphere, his storytelling skills appear to need further refining and development.
Iain MacLeod