Arrow Video FrightFest is currently well underway. Saturdays at the festival are always interesting thanks to the First Blood programme. The strand sees one of the Discovery screens dedicated to a day of films created by filmmakers who are new to the genre scene. Earlier, the festivities kicked off with Sebastien Blanc’s mad science chiller, now comes the turn of writer and director Will Higo and his film The Group.
Proof that FrightFest embraces diversity under the umbrella of the term ‘dark heart of cinema’, The Group is unlike anything else in the First Blood line-up. Higo doesn’t concern himself with creating a gore-filled scarefest, instead crafting an intimate study into addiction and guilt. Set within the confines of a community centre, The Group joins an addicts anonymous group who get taken hostage by a man with a score to settle. The Group plays around with thriller conventions, stripping them right back, drawing the viewer into the story rather than the action.
Forgoing glossy trappings The Group is a raw and emotional study of grief and guilt. Higo keeps the camera intimate and close, only occasionally leaving the circle of chairs in which the characters sit. The move gives The Group the illusion of a stage play, the idea being one that could easily be replicated in a theatre environment. This heavy focus on the characters means that The Group’s success rests in the hands of its cast. Higo has picked his cast wisely and each carries their own weight. Standouts include relapsed addict Kara (Evangelina Burton) and hostage-taker Jack (Dylan Baldwin).
The Group deals with the need to take responsibility for one’s actions. The setting of a group therapy session is the perfect environment for Higo’s story to take place. These groups focus on analysing one’s actions and past mistakes. It’s exactly what Kara and her fellow members are attempting to do before Jack’s arrival. The addition of Jack forces their process along. He’s powered by a father’s anguish and his need for vindication for past actions, causing him to arguably become worse than what he is seeking to reconcile. Members of the AA group are more intrinsically connected than one could imagine and seeing these dynamics unfold brings in the tension.
Higo welds this tension well, fully allowing the thriller aspects of The Group to make themselves known. The claustrophobic camerawork further exacerbates these feelings, and although scaled back in terms of settings, Higo repeatedly raises the stakes. As more confessions are cast into the air, the stranglehold tightens. This tightening is mirrored through the ever constraining camera to the point that it is almost in the laps of the characters. Getting so up close and personal helps form a bond. These characters are not saints, but their inclusion in the group means that they are at least trying to better themselves. The Group illustrates the damages that addiction has, not only on the user, but also those around them. It takes the idea into extreme territories, but Higo’s tale is a captivating one, brought to life by some notable performances.
The Group
Summary
Confessions and long monologues of dialogue draw the viewer into this tightly wound intimate thriller.
The Group was reviewed at Arrow Video FrightFest 2022.
