We’ve all seen plenty of home invasion horrors, but what about a holiday home invasion? Well that’s exactly what happens to married couple, Emma (Jill Awbrey) and Henry (Bart Johnson) Barrett, when they go away for their anniversary, in FrightFest opener, Held. The house in question is gorgeous, fantastically hi-tech and, as they always are, right out in the middle of nowhere. After one too many glasses of wine on the first night, the couple retire to bed. Upon waking up the next morning, they find all of their belongings gone, with new things in their place. Then the house phone (remember those) rings and they are told by a threatening voice to “obey” or there will be consequences. The couple are then forced to ‘perform’ stereotypical husband and wifely tasks in an effort to keep their tormentor satisfied.
Having previously directed both of the Gallows films, Held marks directors Travis Cluff and Chris Lofing’s first feature film to not be set within that world. It also marks a departure both tonally and stylistically from what we’ve seen from them before. Gone is the found footage, gone too are all the jump scares and scenes set in the dark. They also step away from teenage protagonists and shift instead to a middle-aged couple with way more life experience. It’s a great choice from the pair and demonstrates that they are capable of doing much more than the typical teen Blumhouse fodder.
By focussing on a much older set of characters, the film is able to explore much more complex issues. That’s not to say that younger people don’t have problems, but here those troubles come with years of history. Emma for example, was the victim of a traumatic assault during her younger days, the film opening with this moment before fast-forwarding to the present day. All her actions and decisions made within Held can be traced back to this moment as the audience sees how it has shaped her.
Purely set within the confines of one building with, primarily, just two characters and a disembodied voice, Held has to work hard to maintain the audience’s attention. Fortunately there is enough subtext and history between Emma and Henry to feed the viewer’s appetite. When we first meet them, they appear like any other couple, but as the story pushes forwards, chinks start to appear and it’s not too long before it becomes clear that the couple are in dire need of help.
The script, written by Jill Awbrey who plays Emma, offers plenty of intrigue and revelations. Whilst not the most original of stories, it does offer up some interesting switch-ups to what is expected, namely allowing Emma to take on some of the more traditional male vices. There’s an interesting amount of gender politics at play; the film seeks to expose society’s misguided beliefs that men and women should act in certain ways. The key part of Emma and Henry’s treatment is that they have to conform to gender stereotypes: she has to do the cooking, he has to open all the doors for her etc. These are outdated concepts for many of us, though it will likely be read differently by people of varying age and ideological values.
As fascinating as the gender play is, Held suffers from a mild case of perceiving itself to be smarter than it is. The direction in which it veers towards in the end is signposted fairly early on, and its reveal is not as shocking as intended. Overall though, Held has enough within it to hold your attention and is a welcome step forward from Cluff and Lofing’s earlier work.
Held was reviewed at Arrow Video Frightfest Halloween.
Held
Summary
Gender politics and a crumbling relationship form the focus in this fairly standard, but well made, holiday home invasion thriller.
