As A Prelude to Fear – Solid Thriller
Director: Steph Du Melo
Writer: Jacob Coen, Steph Du Melo, Roger Wyatt (Screenplay)
Starring: Lara Lemon, Francis Magee, Lucy Drive, Melissa Hollett, Jamie Langlands, Tom Clear
Plot: When a young girl called Eve gets kidnapped and imprisoned in a dungeon-like basement, the police believe it is the work of the notorious Pied Piper.
Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: As A Prelude to Fear starts when a talented celloist Eve (Lemon) looks to meet an elite teacher Giles Corcoran (Wyatt), Eve finds herself kidnapped and imprisoned. Eve’s boyfriend Jamie (Langlands) looks to get the police involved DCS Barnbrook (Magee) leading the investigation, believing the notorious Pied Piper has returned.
AS Eve learns from another captive woman what is waiting for her, she is left learning the lesson, she is getting put through, as the investigation looks to finally nail the Pied Piper, with all clues pointing towards the same teacher.
Thoughts on As A Prelude to Fear
Characters & Performances – Eve is the celloist that is on the way to a lesson with one of the most famous teachers, she gets kidnapped and locked away in a dungeon, wanting answers, learning about where she is trapped. She tries to pull the other women together for an escape, but learning about the punishment for not following orders. Lara Lemon does well in this role, with most of the film seeing her in the one location searching for help. DCS Barnbrook has seen his career stumble while tracking the Pied Piper, he has always believed it to be Corcoran, he just needed proof to close the case. Francis Magee shows the broken man wanting the truth a man who made it his life’s work to get answers for. Giles Corcoran is the music teacher that is the prime suspect in the missing women, his personality does continue to point fingers at him, as his action will make him the prime suspect. This is a film will introduce a lot of characters, with the other women held captive, the boyfriend searching for answers, starting to lose his patience and the other officers trying to keep the story calm without it getting out of control.
Story – The story here follows a young woman that gets kidnapped and must figure out how to survive the environment she is locked up in, while the police are searching for answers to the person known as the Pied Piper, who has been targeting women for years. This is a thriller that will get split into two sides of the story, the first side is Eve trying to survive, this side isn’t as intense as it could be because we focus more on her discussing the situation with another women, rather then being put through too much, with most of the horrors involved being spoken of, not even the screaming reaction to. On the other side we have the investigation be it by the police or the boyfriend, this is everything you would expect, with them usually coming up short when things don’t go to plan. The two mix together well enough, keeping everything shimmer along for the truth.
Themes – As A Prelude to Fear is a thriller that wants to keep you guessing, while heavily pointing towards one direction, the locations are used to show the trapped environment that Eve finds herself in, which could be considered anywhere in this world. Nothing does feel as intense as it should do, which will end up leaving moments of the film feeling flatter than they should.
Final Thoughts – As A Prelude to Fear is a thriller that shimmers along, without getting to the intensity levels it could.