Locked movie review: Bill Skarsgard-starrer is a twisted cramped out thriller

A still from Locked

Film: Locked
Cast: Bill Skarsgard, Anthony Hopkins, Ashley Cartwright
Director: David Yarovesky
Rating: 3 stars
Runtime: 95 min

The remake of the Argentinian original ‘4x4,' this film ‘Locked' has a clever conceit. The script has a down-on-his-luck guy stuck in an SUV for multiple days over the course of about 80 minutes of screen time. This film may sound similar to Steven Knight's 2013 movie, ‘Locke' but the concept is the only common ground. ‘Locke' had Tom Hardy, a troubled guy see his life unravel during a feature-length road trip while

Yarovesky's new thriller, ‘Locked', has Bill Skarsgard trapped in a nightmare car with no way out.

It's a concept film and gimmicky to boot but the treatment is such that you don't get much time to think about it and the runtime is short enough to distract you.

Eddie (Bill Skarsgard) is trapped in an SUV vehicle. He is in it because he is searching the car, for anything he can swipe and sell. Eddie's desperation stems from the need to make, find, or steal just a few hundred dollars in order to pay off some minor repairs on the delivery van that's his main source of income. Without it, he's stuck in a completely different way.

The narrative tells us that Eddie's not a bad guy. He had a rough upbringing and his back story is a sad one. So right away you feel some empathy for his plight. And when you know that the man who arranges for Eddie to be locked in an SUV and proceeds to make him suffer all sorts of physical and psychological strain, puts him under various forms of torture, is doing it because he has a vigilante's warped sense of justice, the sympathy piles up.

William (Anthony Hopkins), the SUV's owner, is playing his own twisted game. The unseen psycho vigilante William (Anthony Hopkins) has rigged the car in such a way that bad things happen. He makes repeated phone calls to the SUV taunting Eddie, pretending to be worried about him, and enacting all sorts of tortures upon him. And there is no way out for Eddie. Eddie pleads that he doesn't deserve to be an unwilling prisoner and a pawn in William's twisted game but William simply doesn't care. He sees Eddie as a criminal and no pleas and no logical arguments will change his mind. There's even a political battle happening and can be read as such, between the lines.

We see both sides of the argument. We also see the conflict and the struggle that unfolds as Eddie tries to find some way of escaping the SUV. As the narrative progresses the full extent of William's sinister design for this trap keeps revealing itself.

Despite the cramped space, we get a really good performance from Skarsgard. He is put through the wringer and it shows up. Hopkins dialogue heavy largely vocal performance leaves a strong impact. Yarovesky and his DOP keep the surprises coming, getting inventive and diabolical as the story progresses. This is a clever thriller, plotted and staged to keep you in its grip throughout. Go enjoy!