A woman finds herself kidnapped and entrapped in the enclosed space of a speeding car’s trunk. As the kidnapper toys with and torments her, she must use what little means are at her disposal to fight for her freedom. As it turns out – in more ways than one.
The Girl in the Trunk promises to be “a tight tense thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat.” The film stars Caspar Phillipson (Jackie, Blonde) and Katharina Sporrer (Genius), and was written and directed by Jonas Kvist Jensen. The Girl In The Trunk is available now on Digital Download in the USA, Canada, UK & Ireland.
In the late 90s at the height of stranger danger my local news did a report on how to escape a trunk should you be kidnapped which included pulling a florescent tab that would cause the trunk door to release. My brother, who was 8 at the time, decided he would try this on my family’s car, a model from the 80s. He quickly learned that the tab was a newer addition to cars; we found him 3 hours later, scared out of his mind but ultimately unharmed. This childhood experience would be what prompted me to review this movie and I began to envy the idea of being locked in a trunk for three hours instead of watching it.
The movie slogs on for just under an hour and a half rife with continuity errors and teasing at resolutions only to have *double click text to reveal spoiler* the abductor (Played by Caspar Phillipson) escape with his captive Amanda (Katharina Sporrer) for implausible or outright detrimental reasons. Rather than being deceptive or cunning the abductor simply murders people to escape. I’ll say that again: to avoid being caught abducting a girl he murders people (or attempts to as throughout the movie bullets seem to be nonlethal). He is exposited to have done this many times but leaves a wrench and even a tire jack in the trunk–as well as Amanda’s phone–making this fight for her life seem less threatening and make her seem less helpless.
Furthermore, a lot of lighting was used in the trunk; everything happening is visible, removing a lot of tension from the movie as well as the scariest part of being locked in a trunk–the fact that it is pitch black and terrifying. That was a wasted opportunity to build tension with more dynamic lighting, showing less but telling more. Another gripe would be that the movie is set in Houston Texas but other than a caricature of a Texan redneck, no one has a Texan or even Southern accent and in the particular case of the redneck it was very poorly done.
The Girl in the Trunk could have easily been a short film rather than a feature-length film it is. Instead, we’re made to watch an hour filled with panicked breathing and whimpering between breadcrumbs of exposition that I hardly cared about. I had a very hard time being unapathetic toward Amanda; not only because she showed herself to be selfish and hung up on her dad, but because I never felt like she was legitimately in danger. I was very aware I was watching a movie and that this movie was boring, with absolutely nothing extraordinary or exceptional taking place. The word “pacing” comes to mind.
I understand some things I’ve mentioned are generally against the best interest in movies such as having low visibility or having some way to create dialogue, but not taking risks like that ultimately hurt the presentation of the film, it took a horrifying concept–being abducted and locked in a trunk–and made it uninteresting and drawn out, with the main tension coming from the abductor murdering people to avoid being caught abducting a girl. In closing; there is nothing particular about this movie worth watching, nothing is different from a mid-season episode of a crime drama except for the longer run time. The film releases today in the USA, Canada, UK & Ireland. If you want to give it a watch, you can order the film here (UK) or here (US). Trailer and artwork below.
