If this preview, courtesy of Comingsoon, is any indication, “The Disappearance of Alice Creed,” will evince a slow but tense simmer.
The story centers around two ex-cons, Vic (Eddie Marsan) and Danny (Martin Compston) who hatch a plan to kidnap Alice (Gemma Arterton), the daughter of a rich businessman. The crooks think the plot will set them for life, but their target defies their expectations. Terrified at first, it becomes clear that Arteton (“Clash Of The Titans,” “Quantum of Solace”) is up for the fight, and she dives into a three-way battle of wits and wills with her would-be captors.
The teaser clip itself is simple: Marsan (“Happy-Go-Lucky”) and Compston convert a small apartment into a prison room, stapling foam insulation on the wall, setting up a bed, bolting in a steel door. The wordless sequence is taut and provocative, despite a score that manages to be somehow at the same time minimalist and a bit distracting. But the emotion of the situation is immediately apparent, and first-time writer/director J. Blakeson builds tension by showing us the criminals preparation in way that is both methodical and malevolent. Imagine the excellent sequences of George Clooney packing in “Up In The Air,” but with the backdrop of crime, and you’ll have the idea.
Blakeson’s worked as a horror writer in the past (penning the straight-to-DVD “The Descent 2”) but his lack of experience behind the camera isn’t evident in this gripping preview. The clip also does a fine job of introducing Vic and Danny as characters — Marsan as the older, experienced crook and Compston, the younger and more nervous apprentice. Even in their cooperation, it is clear that there is tension between the two men.
‘Alice Creed’ screened at the London Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival in 2009 and had its first appearance in the U.S at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival. If the rest of the film lives up to the first five minutes, “The Disappearance of Alice Creed,” which opens in Los Angeles and New York on August 6, could be a crime-thriller with a brain that manages to be as provocative as it is intense.