Deception dominates domestic disturbances dooming the validity of distinguished, distinctive attitudes and dynamics of friends drastically deepening disastrous damasking depravity indefinitely.

Grace and Chris have just broken up via video chat after trying a long-distance relationship. She visits her childhood friend Liv, her boyfriend Ed, and their adorable dog Polly to help pick up the pieces. Then things get weird.

Written and Directed by Blake Ridder, Help expertly uses slow-burn story structure for developing ideas in a thorough, engaging manner. This includes interesting discussions early on like how Grace stopped horseback riding because she felt bad for the horses with subtext about abuse. It’s more about reading between the lines of what is said. This sets the stage for what’s to come. Poor decisions get made acting out of revenge which leads to situations including manipulation, secrets, lies, and murder. I love when movies titles have multiple thought-provoking meanings too.

Ridder uses unique camera angles and movements giving certain scenes extra pizazz. It’s so visually interesting. Tension is built through conversations putting dialogue centre stage. Refreshingly, it’s free from jump scares. He instills fear by casting constant doubt about the unknown. For example, Grace hears strange noises at night from her room like muffled screaming and loud bangs that pique her curiosity. She keeps finding random bloodstains around the house causing further puzzlement. This puts the viewer in Grace’s shoes. To quote Shakespeare “Oh what tangled webs we weave, when we are trying to deceive.” Ridder clearly had this ideology in mind when crafting his cinematic vision. When the truth finally is revealed, the conclusion is satisfying. In retrospect, the clues were all there. Subtlety is key to why that payoff works so well.

Sarah Alexandra Marks is Grace. More than a damsel in distress, she’s complex and relatable. Who hasn’t suffered a bad breakup and searched for solace among friends? As the layers get peeled back, she’s portrayed with less innocence than when first introduced. She investigates the mystery to find the truth. She maintains a strong performance, carrying the film well as things get complicated by the choices she’s made. Each character is flawed. Their true colours are shown slowly when faced with obstacles, the main protagonist is no exception.

Emily Redpath is Liv. She plays her with a vulnerability creating an empathic character whom may or may not be as innocent as she says. She does questionable acts with reasons to be on her side but do two wrongs make a right?

Louis James is Ed. He comes across as charming upon first impressions. It’s established early he has a temper. However, when he reacts to unexpected occurrences, it better defines who he is. A character-driven plot needs strongly fleshed-out characters for this to work. All three performers bring engaging charisma to contrast their collective flaws with phenomenal results.

Overall, each character has both reprehensible and redeeming qualities. The line drawn between good and bad blurs as the plot progresses, delivering a finale making me reconsider everything in the film. It gets confusing because memories mesh with present-day events in Act 2. It’s evident this is an artistic choice to emphasize confusion by manipulation. It loses points because something happens to poor Polly which taints films for me but I still recommend the intricate, innovative well-written film, directed with visionary style but doesn’t place it over substance.

Curious about the credits having a limited cast/crew, I looked into it. According to MovieInsider.com, “Help was filmed over just 12 days. Due to UK lockdown restrictions, only 20 cast and crew members were involved. Help is a testament to producing high-quality films during such a turbulent time.” Given the high caliber production value, that’s an understatement. And remember, everyone has secrets but can anyone really keep them secret foe long?

8 out of 10