Review: Eden Lake (2008)

Eden Lake

IMDB rate: 6,8

Genre: Survival

Finally a new review! It took a few days, but I'm back. Eden Lake was a decent movie, but in my opinion not very special. The acting is good, even excellent. The special effects looks realistic. The storyline is not terrible but it's just not very catchy. It was a bit predictable and not very imaginative. Nevertheless, it's a good/decent movie.

Nursery teacher Jenny (Kelly Reilly) and her boyfriend Steve (Michael Fassbender), escape for a romantic weekend away. Steve, planning to propose, has found an idyllic setting: a remote lake enclosed by woodlands and seemingly deserted. The couple's peace is shattered when a gang of obnoxious kids encircles their campsite. Reveling in provoking the adults, the gang steals the couple's belongings and vandalizes their car leaving them completely stranded. When Steve confronts them, tempers flare and he suffers a shocking and violent attack. Fleeing for help, Jenny is subject to a brutal and relentless game of cat-and-mouse as she desperately tries to evade her young pursuers and find her way out of the woods.

Like I already said, the acting is amazing. Michael Fassbender is an excellent actor and in Eden Lake he proves himself once more. It's a bit strange seeing him in a horror movie but he actually fitted in perfectly. His character is a bit strange tough, his motives are a bit unbelievable. For instance, going in a strangers house because their kids were rude? It was the same case with Kelly Reilly's character, doing strange unusual stuff. You see that your husband is getting tortured, just keep watching instead of seeking help...  It's also a bit unreal that a couple's going back to the same place where they were molested the day before. If a place doesn't feel right, people don't go back unless they are forced. 

Another excellent actor was Jack O'Connell, who plays Brett, the leader of the gang. I don't want to run into him after seeing this movie, that's for sure. His acting was flawless. The other kids are great too, but unfortunately they did not have bigger parts.

The movie is brutal at some points, but not that much that it impressed me. What you saw was not too shocking, unfortunately. 

I already said it before but some points were quite unreal. There are too many coincidences. Because of the obvious coincidences, the ending was quite boring and predictable. 

It's a shame that the script is so terrible, because the acting and stuff is incredible. The dialogues and happenings are just too unreal which makes it hard to watch. It's a very brutal movie but it just doesn't feel that way because of the terrible script. You hardly felt sorry for the couple because they are just fools for letting a bunch of teenagers molest them.

It's funny because this movie gets very different reviews. Some people loved it and rated it a 8 or 9, while others hated it so much they rated it a 1. I read more reviews with a 1 so I'm quite surprised that the IMDB rate is still that high.

I did not like watching this movie, mainly because it's predictable. It might be worth a watch because of the excellent acting but that's about it. Don't watch it for the storyline, because it's a waste of your time.

My personal rate: 5,5/10