{"id":6225,"date":"2016-03-09T00:33:03","date_gmt":"2016-03-08T23:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/?p=6225"},"modified":"2016-07-10T20:46:35","modified_gmt":"2016-07-10T19:46:35","slug":"the-ones-below","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2016\/03\/09\/the-ones-below\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ones Below"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The Ones Below<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

\nFormat:<\/B> Cinema

\nRelease date:<\/B> 11 March 2016

\nDVD release date:<\/B> 4 July 2016

\nDistributor:<\/B> Icon Film Distribution

\nDirector:<\/B> David Farr

\nWriter:<\/B> David Farr

\nCast:<\/B> Clémence Poésy, David Morrissey, Stephen Campbell Moore, Laura Birn, Deborah Findlay

\nUK 2015

\n87 mins\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Despite a sense of déjàvu and an unconvincing ending, David Farr\u2019s London-set pregnancy chiller conjures up a claustrophobic atmosphere.<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

With more than a passing nod to Roman Polanski\u2019s Rosemary\u2019s Baby<\/I>, this contemporary chilling thriller riffs well enough off its contained, two-up, two-down set-up, even if it struggles to convince with its grand reveal. <\/p>\n

Kate (Clémence Poésy) lives upstairs with husband Justin (Stephen Campbell Moore) and is expecting their first child, albeit with some reticence. Brightening her day is her new ground-floor neighbour, Theresa (Laura Birn), a vivacious blonde whose older husband, Jon (David Morrissey), has a brusque manner and an even worse temper. They have been trying for years (seven, to be precise) to conceive. When they are invited for dinner, Jon can barely mask his contempt for a couple that can successfully procreate at the drop of a hat.<\/p>\n

Inevitably, the new arrivals prove to be awkward guests, made worse after a tragic accident, which sends them scurrying downstairs back to their renovated flat. Almost immediately, the promise of like-minded neighbours vanishes. Or so it would seem. <\/p>\n

Director David Farr, here making the leap from stage to screen, does well handling Kate\u2019s mental deterioration, which convinces as the line separating fantasy from reality becomes increasingly and alarmingly blurred. Poésy\u2019s pale and increasingly drawn complexion, captured effectively by the lensing of Ed Rutherford, makes for unsettling viewing. Moore\u2019s typically solid turn as the hapless husband, seemingly powerless to stop the dramatic denouement of the piece, is also well timed. <\/p>\n

Given their positioning in the narrative \u2013 and the mysterious goings-on that play out on screen \u2013 it\u2019s trickier to take Morrissey and Birn\u2019s characters quite so seriously. Yet the pair both respond to their material in a suitably colourful way, allowing for brief moments of dark humour to waft through proceedings, before matters begin to turn ugly. <\/p>\n

And ugly they most certainly are. While Polanski needn\u2019t fret about this young, London-based pretender, The Ones Below<\/I> succeeds in crafting a tense and claustrophobic environment within which this motley crew of characters can do their worst. That its finale seems almost laughably absurd is soon alleviated upon reflection of what\u2019s just unfolded. Farr\u2019s film, which showed at Toronto as part of the festival\u2019s City to City programme, isn\u2019t likely to rattle any cages, but it might just upset a few light sleepers. Provided you don\u2019t mind a plot hole or two.<\/p>\n

Ed Gibbs<\/B><\/I><\/p>\n

Watch the trailer: <\/b><\/p>\n