Plot: Three childhood friends set aside their personal issues and reunite for a girls’ weekend on a remote island off the coast of Maine. One wrong move turns their weekend getaway into a deadly fight for survival.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Very Bland
Story: Black Rock starts as two friends Lou (Bell) & Sarah (Bosworth) traveling to an island only for Sarah to surprise Lou and Abby (Aselton) to try and reconnect. Sarah wants to bring the three friends back together where they search for a time capsule they put on the island when they were kids but it isn’t long before we learn why Abby and Lou haven’t seen talking.
The trip gets interrupted by three guys Henry (Paulson), Derek (Bouvier) and Alex (Richardson) who the girls know from when they were younger. When Abby leads Henry on it leads to him trying to rape her before she kills him leading to Derek and Alex having to make the difficult decision on what to do to them. When the girls escape it turns into a battle to survive as the ex-military men chase down the girls on the island.
Black Rock comes off very frustrating because we start by not learning enough about the three leading ladies apart from the fact they were friends. The reason Derek decides to go on the hunt to kill happens because one of the women over teased one of the guys leading him on way too much before changing her mind and this ends up leaving the film in the morale ground of who was wrong, the guy for not stopping or the girl for saying yes before changing her mind. The survival side of the story is also almost pointless because we have nothing new.
Actor Review
Katie Aselton: Abby is one of our leading ladies who has fallen out with Lou after something that has happened years before. She reluctantly goes on this trip once Sarah talks her into it. Abby gets drunk leading a guy on but when things get out of hand she ends up killing him leading to his friends hunting the friends down on the island. Katie is solid but we need to actually believe the friendship before the attack.
Lake Bell: Lou is the other friend that has clashed with Abby but spending time together the two have to put the difference behind them to survive the attack on the island. Lake is solid in this role but we need to see more.
Kate Bosworth: Sarah is the friend that is trying to make Abby and Lou patch things together, she is a doctor which offers help when the friends come under attack on the island. Kate seems like she is wasted in what is only a supporting role.
Will Bouvier: Derek is the friend that decides to hunt down the girls after they kill his friend, he treats it like a game enjoying this too much. Will is a very average villain.
Support Cast: Black Rock only has a couple more cast members that don’t really stay around long enough to make a difference with the survival but are the motivation for the hunting.
Director Review: Katie Aselton – Katie doesn’t get the most out of this simple story with predictable scenes throughout.
Horror: Black Rock doesn’t us the horror elements of this survival horror enough.
Thriller: Black Rock should be keeping us on edge but by the end of the film the suspense has been lost.
Settings: Black Rock keeps nearly all of the film on one island which does create the isolation needed.
Special Effects: Black Rock has solid effects when it comes to the kills but otherwise not needed.
Suggestion: Black Rock is one you can easily miss because everything has been done better before. (Skip It)
Best Part: It is quiet short.
Worst Part: Why did you not just grab the gun?
Believability: No
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: Hopefully not.
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: No
Runtime: 1 Hour 23 Minutes
Tagline: Not every island is a paradise.
Trivia: Writers Katie Aselton and Mark Duplass are married.
Overall: Predictable and flat story with little to no suspense.
Rating