The River (2022) 💀💀½

 

The River, a film by writer/director Liam Banks, opens with Sarah sitting on a dock, on her phone dealing with familial drama. Kordas' performance lacks the level of emotional depth to draw viewers in and, when it is revealed that her husband was having an affair with her sister, her outrage seems mild and rather distant. Understandably, she has removed herself from the situation and wishes to take some time alone to regain her center and is going to kayak down the titular river. It is the last sensible thing that Sarah does, and the writing for the character makes it difficult to find any further point over which to bond with, or feel sympathy for, her.

After hurling her wedding ring into the water, Sarah slips into her kayak and lazily makes her way downstream. The cinematography here is superb, and first time cinematographer Theo Vann-Leeds has a great eye. The river scenes are beautifully captured, with compositions that highlight both the natural beauty and isolation of the setting. 

Unfortunately, while there are a number of opportunities along the way to build real tension and dread, Banks instead leans in to the film's score to accomplish most of what dread is evoked. Indeed, were the soundtrack replaced, viewers would be presented with quite a soothing scene. This is intercut with a few brief underwater point of view shots, as if to remind viewers that the film's premise promises something evil in the water. To hammer the point home even more clearly, when Sarah passes underneath a bridge, graffiti warns "Beware! Jenny Green Teeth!"

With viewers thusly struck over the head by the nature of the menace in the water, the film is ready for its first scare, nearly midway through the film. Initially Banks' script relies heavily on jump scares and the first is a fake scare which fails on a number of levels. There is no release of tension, nor does it serve to make viewers feel safe in preparation for a real scare to come. When the kayak is struck from beneath a few moments later, what might've been an effective scare instead feels bland.

From here, Sarah's actions make little to no sense. As what is clearly a human(ish) head rises from the water, staring directly at her, Sarah calmly pulls out her phone to zoom in for a better look. This serves as an excuse to drag out the full reveal a little longer, but isn't much worth the effort. When the creature in the water blinks, a musical sting tells viewers to join Sarah in being frightened. Of course, Sarah is so startled that she immediately drops her phone into the river. Then, despite knowing something is lurking beneath the surface, she reaches down for her device while losing her paddle in the process

It merely goes downhill from there, as the script prioritize forced plot progression over believable character choices. Sarah never truly behaves as a person afraid for her life, or even frightened by the strange events unfolding around her. This is a fault in the writing though, not in Kordas' performance. The story delivers on most of the notes that one would expect from a horror film - in the most predictable and by the numbers fashion one could imagine. Every story beat feels familiar because they're borrowed from better sources: underwater POV shots reminiscent of Jaws, ominous graffiti foreshadowing danger like Candyman, and an abundance of jump "scares". This all culminates in a lackluster recreation of Jason's iconic emergence from the water from the original Friday the Thirteenth.

There are some genuinely creepy moments in the film and, as mentioned before, the cinematography is far above what one might expect to find. What The River lacks in creative originality, it partially makes up for in visual style. Viewers not going in with high expectations will be rewarded with a not wholly unenjoyable experience. 

2022 ✶ 15m ✶ Color ✶ GB ✶ Director: Liam Banks ✶ Screenplay: Liam Banks ✶ Starring: Sarah Wynne Kordas (Sarah) ✶ Youtube.