Swallowed – Frightfest Movie Review
Director: Carter Smith
Writer: Carter Smith (Screenplay)
Cast
- Jena Malone (The Neon Demon)
- Cooper Koch (They/Them)
- Mark Patton (A Nightmare on Elm Street 2)
- Jose Colon
Plot: Follows two best friends on their final night together, with a nightmare of drugs, bugs, and horrific intimacy.
Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Swallowed starts as two best friends Benjamin (Koch) and Dom (Colon) agree to help smuggle a package across the border. Alice (Malone) supplies the product, and the friends must swallow it.
When the friends get across the border, they find out they have taken on more than they expected. Seeing the product leaving them struggling to survive.
Verdict on Swallowed
Characters
Benjamin is about to move to LA to start a fresh life away from his best friend. To make enough money to make this a reality, he agrees to go on a smuggling job. When this starts going wrong, he looks to get out quickly but wants to stay loyal to his best friend.
Dom is Benjamin’s best friend who has set up the job, he wants to make sure his friend can have the best life. He isn’t prepared for what the job is but will go through the struggle as one last journey with Benjamin.
Alice is the drug smuggler that makes the friends complete the job. She is aggressive in her approach, demanding the job is complete and taking no excuses from the friends. She isn’t the highest ranked in the system using her position to push things through.
Rich is the man who wants the product, he has an even shorter temper than Alice. This sees him in a more threatening mood towards the friends, as he wants the job done quickly, even after the mishap they faced.
Performances
Cooper Koch in the leading role is great, he shows us a young man who sees the world at his feet. He must go through the most emotions as the story tests his character.
Jena Malone is the biggest name in the movie and does a great job In her role. The aggressive but relatable tone to her determination to get the job done smoothly is what shines through here.
Jose Colon and Mark Patton, the other two biggest roles in the movie, are strong, getting to play into the characters well.
Story
The story follows two best friends that get drawn into a smuggling job, only for things to go very wrong once they cross the border. As the panic to solve the situation unfolds, the pair must face the smugglers who want their product back.
This is a story that mixes the typical smuggling gone wrong with a much darker outcome. Showing us how dangerous the ingesting of unknown products can be, with the consequences becoming clear to those involved. It also shows a different substance that people have become addicted to, as they look to find a new high. The friendship road trip side of the story sees how much the journey means to them both, knowing it will be a while before they could do this again. The sexual undertow of the friendship is involved too, as we are left to see how close the friends truly are.
Themes
Swallowed is a horror thriller that takes a dramatic turn when the two friends learn what they have been smuggling. It would strike fear in anyone involved, as the audience is left to wonder, just how deadly this could turn out to be. We could easily have gotten much darker with what we had and a lot more shock value feels like it is being held back too.
Final Thoughts – Swallowed is a smart twist on the ingesting smuggling ring, with horrific outcomes.
