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SYNOPSIS:
Primary school teacher Jenny (Kelly Reilly, “Pride & Prejudice”, “Mrs Henderson Presents”) and her boyfriend Steve (Michael Fassbender, “300”), head out of London for a weekend break at a beautiful secluded lake. Steve has chosen the romantic spot, and is waiting for the perfect moment to surprise Jenny with a marriage proposal. They pitch a tent, go swimming, sunbathe, and enjoy the peace – until it is shattered by a group of rowdy, threatening teenagers. When Steve confronts the group about their behaviour, a fight breaks out, and Steve accidentally kills gang leader Brett’s dog. Suddenly the couple’s idyllic getaway turns into a survival nightmare, as they are forced into the forest to escape the vengeance of their pursuers. Separated from Steve, Jenny has to draw on unknown reserves of strength– and mercilessness – to survive. Finally breaking free from the forest and her young pursuers Jenny makes it to the apparent sanctuary of the town. And meets the parents.
MOVIE
REVIEW
Has our society no limit to its depravity? Apparently not, if you believe “Eden Lake”- itself an unfortunate product of our depraved nature. Writer/ director James Watkins’ tale tells of a young couple, Jenny (Kelly Reilly) and Steve (Michael Fassbender), off for a weekend in the country who meet a bunch of violent hooligans. The twist here? The ruffians are mere teenagers.
It’s not hard to guess that “Eden Lake” is striving at some sort of social commentary about the state of our adolescents these days. Right from the start, Watkins introduces a radio show voiceover about parents who have lost control of their kids, or worse still, parents who can’t even be bothered to teach their kids the right values and habits. So what happens to these kids? What sort of persons do they turn out to be?
Violent, sadistic, amoral, cowardly and callous, says “Eden Lake”. Teenagers who retaliate with foul language, lewd gestures and when provoked, aggressive and vicious tactics. Teenagers who have little qualms of tying up an injured man with barbed wire and taking turns at using a penknife to stab him. Teenagers who will hunt you down like a pack of wolves hungry for some cruel fun.
It is shocking, no doubt, and “Eden Lake” succeeds in waking you up to the moral ineptitude that is the reality of some teenagers today. But provocative as it may be, “Eden Lake” doesn’t quite know where to draw the line. Instead, it determinedly ups the ante as it hurls vomit-inducing after vomit-inducing scene at you, right up to its shocking climax. Yes, those looking for some sort of vindication should look elsewhere, for “Eden Lake” has one of the most revolting endings ever on film.
Indeed, “Eden Lake” may seem at first like a cautionary tale, but from the way it allows its subjects to be tortured both physically and psychologically, you’d be hard-pressed to see it as any sort of warning. Rather, the movie has merely pandered to the very state of depravity that it supposedly tries to condemn. Its manipulation for making you think that it is any more than B-grade torture porn is nothing short of nauseating, and worth avoiding in itself.
That’s not to say “Eden Lake” isn’t tense and thrilling- it is, and that’s what makes it so calculating and repulsive. One must admire too Jenny Reilly and Michael Fassbender for willing to put up with so much humiliation in order to make their characters’ fear and anguish more visceral for their audience. But they are mere pawns to Watkins’ repulsive tale- one which deceptively weaves some element of social reality into what is essentially another pointlessly titillating exercise in torture horror, one with no meaningful purpose or intent, and one devoid of the very morals it purportedly underlines.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
None
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The disc’s visual transfer is decent, though the picture does look a little grainy during the scenes set at night. The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio has a surprisingly strong bass and offers good detail to the sounds in the forest.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Gabriel Chong
Posted on 22 August 2009
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