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Trauma (15)
British thriller starring Colin Firth as an accident victim who wakes from
a coma and starts to wonder if he might be involved in the murder of a pop
star.
Director: Marc Evans
Genre: Thriller
Stars: Colin Firth, Mena Suvari, Naomie Harris
Three out of five stars
Running time: 94 mins
Atmospheric, dark, disorienting thriller with a complex central
performance by Colin Firth.
Marc Evans is the British director behind 2002's low budget hit My Little
Eye . Trauma is his follow-up feature, another edgy psychological
thriller, but this time with a slightly larger budget and a name cast to
play with. As such, it's an effectively creepy, atmospheric thriller that
benefits greatly from an intriguing performance by Colin Firth.
Firth plays Ben, a man who wakes up from a coma after an accident in which
his wife was killed. Confused and disoriented, he only has fragmented
memories of the event and he slowly tries to put his life back together
with the aid of his best friend (Tommy Flanagan) and Charlotte (Mena
Suvari), the Hot Landlady of his brand new flat. In addition, London's
media are obsessed with the recent murder of a pop star and in his
confusion, Ben starts to wonder if he might be involved. As a result, it
isn't long before he's questioning his sanity completely - is his wife
really dead? Does Charlotte actually exist? Who's the strange guy in the
cellar? And that sort of thing.
The casting works extremely well. Firth's screen persona lends itself well
to playing characters who seem emotionally cold and distant and that works
particularly well here - even his relationship with his best friend seems
strained and awkward. This also ensures that there's always doubt in our
minds - maybe he's guilty after all - and keeps us guessing throughout the
film. Suvari is also well cast as the neighbour who seems just too good to
be true. The cast also includes Kenneth Cranham as the police officer
investigating the murder and Brenda Fricker as a psychic who tells Ben
that his wife is alive and deepens his confusion.
Evans makes great use of his principal location, Ben's
still-under-construction apartment building - it's an eerie, mostly
deserted maze of dark corridors and constantly dripping water, complete
with sinister security type in the cellar. There are also nice touches
such as Ben's enormous ant farm, which obviously allows for lots of creepy
close-ups of insects as well as making us see Ben as more and more of a
weirdo.
The film isn't exactly flawless - some of the characters and sub-plots are
side-lined and go nowhere - and it could use some tightening up, but it
does manage to pull off a couple of surprising twists. It isn't in the
same league as Memento (despite desperately trying to be) but it's an
enjoyable 'Amnesia Movie' in its own right.
In short, Trauma is a worthy follow-up to My Little Eye that's worth
seeing for its interesting central performance by Colin Firth.
Reviewed by - Matthew Turner
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