Driving, lost and tormented in the night, primal fears of the dark and the unknown give way to fear that you have let the evil in, or that it is already there.
In Fear endlessly drives around its wooded conceptual chills of contrivance. As a suspiciously confident driver, becoming lost within the unmapped country roads of rural Ireland could be considered my deepest fear. Satellite connectivity severely weakened by the picturesque sparsity. Cellular signal dimmed entirely. A thinly drawn map refusing to grant clear directions. Fuel rapidly decreasing after each long stretch of muddy road. The growing panic, stress and tension is incredibly relatable from a psychological standpoint. So to witness relatively new couple Tom and Lucy traverse the desolate fields in search for a hotel, only to become lost in a labyrinth of misdirecting signs, certainly perpetuates that personal fear manifesting within.
Lovering seizes a relatively simple concept of paranoia and heightens it to chilling levels. Add some mandatory jump scares when Lucy believes to spot sightings of a masked man traumatising them, and Lovering enters the horror genre with conviction. From close up shots of Tom and Lucy’s increasingly fearful eyes to the camera indicating the confined imprisonment of their Vauxhall vehicle, Katznelson’s cinematography is In Fear’s greatest strength. Harnessing the ability to accentuate an already claustrophobic scenario to an oppressive state of mind. Beneath the meandering concept however, is a commentary on rage, particularly road rage. The unknown assailant terrorising Tom and Lucy eventually confronts them, rampantly increasing their rage as he demands Tom to drive faster and threatens Lucy. It’s a shrouded thematic commentary, and certainly an underdeveloped one, yet the comparison between Tom and Lucy’s compulsions, especially what causes the fluctuation in temper, stood out as an intriguing psychological exploration between a couple.
The repetitious nature of In Fear however, unfortunately diminishes much of the chilling impact that Lovering had envisaged. A substantial portion of the film’s runtime is expended driving around for hours, with both characters making poor decisions in an attempt to increase the “horror” elements. For example, leaving keys in the car on more than one occasion, abandoning the car entirely at one point, consuming alcohol whilst driving etc. which only serve as platforms for the anonymous individual to intimidate them. Had they thought about the circumstance, they simply could’ve utilised their inner orienteering skills to drive in one direction til they reach a main road. Of course, that wouldn’t be a horror film now would it? The screenplay was also irritatingly repetitious, with both Tom and Lucy repeating the same lines over and over again. “Let’s go this way!”. “Oh, there’s a sign!”. “Should I go out and check?”. The superfluous chemistry between them failed to make them investable as a couple, particularly with Tom being more a menial menace to Lucy than an actual partner. Caestecker and Englert’s acting was functional, with the latter showcasing some impeccable talent towards the latter half of the film, even if the conclusion was less than satisfying.
Overall, despite In Fear inducing some well-choreographed paranoia and claustrophobic environments, its contrived concept and repetitious plot was unable to navigate through the labyrinthine pitfalls of intellectual horror. “Best British chiller since ‘The Descent’?”, definitely not...
