In Fear (2013)★★★★☆

I’ve been procrastinating everything today, and cutting it close with this post, but here I am! I don’t know about all of you, but the first thing I want to do when I get bad news is to scary myself silly. And I got some pretty bad news today, so I knew I wanted something I’d seen before that was dark and scary but not too…thinky.

This one fulfills all of those needs and then some. I think the first time I saw this was a year or two back when it popped up as a Netflix recommendation. I’d never heard of it before, but was really impressed. It probably helped that I was watching it alone in a dark room at the time, but this movie has a lot going for it.

The cast is small (really small – most of the film is just Lucy and Tom) and delightful (though that might just be the accents). The chemistry, or lack thereof, between Lucy and Tom is palpable and real. The scenery is beautiful but haunting, much like the background music.

But I think the best thing about this movie is the way the story development and the character development are blended so well together. You learn more about their situation as Lucy does, and as things start to get creepier. It’s well paced and interesting. There are parts of this that will keep you on the edge of your seat and parts that may make you jump out of it.

The story does get a little weird and start to fall apart towards the end, but by that point you’ll be so freaked out you’ll hardly notice. I recommend this one for anyone about to embark on a road trip to the middle of nowhere. Or not.