Cage (2017)
Matt Boiselle
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Starring Lucy-Jane Quinlan, Patrick Bergin, Scott Haney
Directed by Warren Dudley
It just goes to show you – there doesn’t necessarily have to be a steadily intricate plot weaved into the heart of a horror film in order to give you the willies, such in the case of Warren Dudley’s Cage. Beautiful girl, locked inside a makeshift prison cell, with a lunatic on the other end of the phone – easy-peasy to roll along with, and it surprisingly was entertaining…I mean if you like the whole “imprisoned female” thing.
Lucy-Jane Quinlan leads the charge here as a doe-eyed young mother named Gracie who is trying to make some dollars as a sex-chat operator in the hopes of one day being able to regain custody of her daughter – a noble intention, indeed. Her severe need for the greenbacks leads her into a potentially dangerous situation when her most ardent caller, a man named Peter (Bergin) requests her personal services while he’s in town. Going against her better judgement, and swearing off what she swore she’d never do, she agrees to meet Peter for a sum over $5000 – not too shabby, but it does have its drawbacks, such as waking up in a wooden cell with no recollection of the previous night’s events. That’s where Gracie finds herself, chained to the heavy bars specially constructed for her incarceration. Seems that her captor was nice enough to provide her with food, water, toiletries, and her own cell phone – allow me to remind you that this film takes place in 2001, so the opportunity to fix a position on one’s cell wasn’t in order just yet – ah, those directors…always thinkin’!
Peter’s voice is one of the many that Gracie interacts with over her phone, as well as her mother and boyfriend, and with no exact destination known to her, it makes a rescue all that much more difficult. The film is essentially a one-woman play, and aside from the ultra creepy voice talent of Mr. Bergin (Sleeping With The Enemy), she’s pretty much on her own, and her performance is exceedingly impressive. There are more than a few moments of inanity as far as the plot goes, and it does set the tempo back a bit, but there is one really clever (albeit tragic) twist in the film’s latter stages that works extremely well and give the story a boost when it seems to be growing a bit stale. There’s no mistaking that Dudley had his thinking cap on when constructing this presentation, and it does hold you to your seat with its mounting tension and stand-out performance from Quinlan. I’d definitely recommend Cage to those looking to get boxed in on a rainy night – something about it just sets the mood, especially if you’re one of those souls not wanting to escape.
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Film
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