FrightFest review – Binding Eva
Felix (Ryan Ralph Gerrard) carjacks Katarina (Catherine Deevy) at knifepoint in a supermarket car park, desperate to get away from a couple of heavies who are after either him or his backpack. Because Felix threatens her silent little girl Eva (Darcey Catteral), Katarina goes along with it … though not without protest. Felix orders her to drive into the woods, where the car comes a cropper and the trio are forced to get past their frustrations with each other as they find themselves across a river and in a Blair Witchy region where it’s all too easy to walk round in circles and peculiarities (a sinister shed, a goat marked with a cross, hooded stalkers, folk horror artworks) suggest they are being persecuted by forces vaster and more strange than a couple of crooks/cops/whatever.
Director Conscian Morgan – who also co-wrote with Will Clempner and Roffem Uzong – gets a lot out of the Forest of Dean and his small cast – and also doesn’t prolong the agony in a 75 minute running time, though the penny drops early that this is going to be a very familiar tale. There’s thematic meat in the selfish, aggressive Felix being forced to become a better person when he’s in charge of the odd, frail little girl after they’re separated from Katarina and Gerrard manages a decent arc. Maciej Sadowski contributes an excellent, eerie score which gives the film a soundscape to go with its shifting greenery.
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