Locked In Review – Dreary Little Thriller
A wealthy, self-centered, greedy, jealous bitchy middle-aged former actor called Katherine meets with an accident and nearly dies. She can only blink her eyes, and with just that, her compassionate nurse tries to find out what really happened to her. But Katherine is such an unlikable character, that as a viewers it’s hard to care about who tried to kill her. In-fact, nobody in the 2023 thriller “Locked In” is likable, not even the kind nurse.
Directed by Nour Wazzi, “Locked In” stars Famke Janssen as Katherine, the embittered widow of a wealthy man who cuts her out of his will, leaving his sprawling estate, Rowling Manor, to his only son, Jamie (Finn Cole). While the first few minutes of the thriller are intense, with brief glimpses of Katherine’s violent accident blended with haunting music, the moment she is revealed to be a narcissistic woman who is jealous of her pre-teen stepson, I couldn’t stay invested in the plot. The predictable nature of the story, coupled with bland one-dimensional characters doesn’t help matters. The only person who seems to care about Katherine is her god-daughter Lina (Rose Williams), who is the most boring character of the tale.
Lina looks up to Katherine and becomes a mother-like figure to her stepson, the sickly Jamie. Lina lives full-time on Rowling Manor, has no job or friends, and is extremely dependent on her comfortable life at the manor. Since there are only three characters in the story, there are only so many people you can suspect of trying to murder Katherine. Aside from Lina and Jamie, there’s also Doctor Robert Lawrence (Alex Hassell), who frequently visits the Manor as Jamie’s GP.
The cinematography incorporates a lot of dimly lit shots and dark tones, lending “Locked In” a horror like atmosphere, however, since the plot isn’t gripping enough, the ominous mood does little to make things engaging. Rose Williams as Lina pulls off the part of a lovelorn young woman seeking constant validation from those around her, however she falters in scenes where she is expected to display rage and aggression.
“Overall, “Locked In” is simply another forgettable Netflix thriller. There’s very little chemistry between the leads, and the plot is paper-thin. While the climax does introduce an interesting twist, it fails to redeem the overall story.
Rating: 4 on 10.
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