Top-Rated Thriller of the 2000s Makes Lord of the Flies Look Like Gilligan’s Island
Written by Robert Scucci | Published
Whenever I plan a romantic getaway with the Missus, I have a very short list of criteria for winning. If the bar has an arcade, I play Time Problem II for an hour. If the hotel doesn’t have a continental breakfast schedule that allows me to sleep in, I eat free soap. And if we’re going to renew our vows or do anything as noble as that, we can’t do it in a remote wilderness where the environment-filled youth with home field advantage think killing is a game. I have watched too many movies like this Willow Creek (2013), Another Important Thing (2022), and 2008 Eden Lake. At least in the middle The back country (2014), which they had to run away from just a bear, because in Eden Lakechildren are very scary.
A bear will eat your face because it thinks you are invading its territory, calm down, and move on with its life. As far as he knew, the bear was just defending himself and had no other choice. New in Eden Lake it will set you on fire after they’ve killed you so they can record it and show everyone what they’ve done for bragging rights.
Both are terrible consequences, but at least with the bear you die with dignity.
I mean, they were asking for it
As much as I want to shout out Jenny Greengrass (Kelly Reilly) and Steve Taylor (Michael Fassbender) for taking the stupidest vacation they could possibly take, I have to remind myself that they’re living actors in this movie, which hopefully means they don’t know their situation is an old problem. I am willing to forgive them and say they don’t deserve anything that happened to them Eden Lakeand I’m willing to suspend disbelief because it’s a tried and true setup. We have to get them into the woods, or there’s no movie.
So they go into the woods, even though they both look like clueless campers who probably should have rented an RV and parked it in a national park, and do the usual things: swimming, smoochies, fumbling with a tent after sunset. Normal things happen here, and I’m not really offended because we’ve seen it all before.
We are then introduced to Brett (Jack O’Connell) and a group of gangsters who are about to make the couple’s life a living hell. These kids are so bad that they make events for Lord of the Flies look like Gilligan’s Island by contrast. It starts with loud music and a barking dog, but before you know it, Jenny and Steve’s car is stolen, their food is trashed, and their camp is destroyed. Not wanting to do more than retrieve their belongings and get the hell out, they try to leave, but Brett and his bullies continue to terrorize them while Paige (Finn Atkins), the only woman in the group, records everything that happens on her cell phone.
Kids Will Be Kids
My children are not yet here, and I hope I am raising them well, because they are young Eden Lake it’s the stuff of nightmares. Brett is clearly the alpha of the pack, and his threat is strong enough to make everyone bend to his will. It doesn’t matter if you want them to destroy property or cut throats but they will if he pushes hard enough. What’s even more terrifying is that anyone who disobeys him faces deadly consequences. When the group is more united, Jenny and Steve are not like them because their only code of conduct is simple: there will be no consequences for their actions.
Sober adults, even those who want to set up tents in the remote wilderness despite their lack of experience, are not like untested youth who clearly have no significant authority figures in their lives. They are fully formed little people, but they have grown up under conditions that heighten their animal instincts more than those of humans. No thinking about that kind of fear, either Eden Lake leans into this social class without shame as Jenny and Steve fight for their lives, Steve wonders when he should get down on one knee and pull out the wedding ring he’s been hiding.
Eden Lake it’s far from an easy watch, but it’s shockingly fun when things start to heat up. It’s worth its weight in discomfort alone thanks to Jenny Greengrass acting like a boss and Jack O’Connell channeling some real mental energy to bring his character to life. If you think you can handle the suspense, which leads to one of the most upsetting endings this type of film can have, Eden Lake currently streaming for free on Tubi.
