Review of Alone (2020) by Tomdebomb — 17 Aug 2021

By the end of the independent film directed by John Hyams, Alone I was out of breath, my palms sweaty, my knuckles white. As the credits rolled I realised ninety minutes had gone by in what felt like an instant. It isn't often a piece of media can conjure such intense emotions as Alone does so effortlessly. Alone follows Jessica Swanson a woman moving house to a new neighbourhood in her car however she is pursued by an ever-present stalker and it all evolves from there into a symphony of thrills. The plot is beautifully simple, almost self aware in its primitiveness. It attempts to deliver a taut, tense cinematic experience which it succeeds at in flying colours. The character of this elusive stalker frightened me to my core. He is so grounded in reality which makes him all the more disturbing. Like a wolf in sheep's clothing he dwells among us and strikes unsuspecting women through cunning manipulation and extreme persistence. Really terrifying stuff. I usually don't comment on acting since to me it doesn't make a large difference in the quality of a film but Marc Menchaca plays this character very well. Until the second act of the film he technically doesn't do anything wrong though he definitely seems off. If not done properly he could come across as quite a likeable guy but Marc gives him just the right amount of creepiness to terrify me from start to finish as his savage and abhorrent tendencies are slowly revealed.

One thing that struck me when watching the film was the masterful cinematography. Federico Verardi is able to show so much with so little. Every clear, concise frame is interesting on some level keeping the viewer glued to the screen. At first I felt the widescreen aspect ratio didn't suit the claustrophobic mood but it soon grew on me giving the vast, stunning yet unforgiving American wilderness a sense of grandeur as if the forest itself is spectating this brutal cat and mouse scenario.

All in all, I really enjoyed Alone. It is pure, honest, visceral, reviving cinema. It doesn't reinvent the wheel but the wheel it uses is polished to a glistening shine. I usually don't enjoy thrillers (I am a bit of touchy with horror films) but this had me enthralled. Go and watch as long as you don't pass out from stress halfway through the film I think you'd enjoy it.