Luke Evans and Kelly Reilly both star in the thriller 10×10; a movie about a young woman named Cathy (Reilly) who is abducted in broad daylight by a man named Lewis (Evans) who then throws her into a secret 10×10, soundproof room in his home all in an attempt at uncovering a dark secret that she has tried for years to hide.
At the beginning of this movie I had hope. The filmmakers did a pretty good job of building suspense. From the background sounds to the visuals where we were able to see the danger that was lurking closely behind it all helped to create a sense of dread, fear, and helplessness within the viewer in knowing that harm is about to come to Cathy.
However, once she was kidnapped things took turn for the not so good. The movie after a certain point seemed to be more focused on showcasing incredibly frustrating fight scenes than actually having something meaningful to say/show. Cathy on more than one occasion was able to take control of the situation at hand, but because of stupid decisions that every thriller movie has to fall victim to her attempts are for nothing, if, but to further the plot. I understand that continuing the story is priority number one, but nothing grinds my gears more than when watching characters make stupid decisions especially on more than one occasion. It just seems really lazy to me and actually takes me out the experience of the movie.
Once it seemed as though the filmmakers realized that the fight scenes could only get them but so far and that what they had created up until that point was a movie that was void of any real purpose that that is when they said “ok, let’s try to make this meaningful.” Near the end of the film the filmmakers attempted to add in some kind of commentary on morality and the idea of right and wrong. The movie never explores this theme up until this point, so when it comes up it’ll more than likely leave you more confused than provoking any kind of real thought.
By the end of the film you’ll end up feeling pretty detached from the entire experience and I think that that can be chalked up to the fact that you won’t be rooting for anyone when it’s all said and done. I’m not the kind of person that believes that movies have to always follow a certain guideline when it come to its characters. Movies are (generally) based on individual stories which are based on, or at the least inspired by, real life and sometimes people in the real world are not good people; therefore, the stories aren’t always going to be and shouldn’t always be based on do-gooders.
With that being said, when it comes to characters, though you may not like them, agree with them, sympathize and/or connect with them one still needs to, at the least, be able to empathize with them; it’s that empathy that helps the audience feel some kind of investment in their story to the point where you would like to see how it all ends. However, by the end of this movie you will not care for either Cathy or Lewis because you’ll see that neither of them are honestly worth saving. Though, we find out their motivations through their sad background stories that brought them to this point because these characters are so foolish, selfish, stupid, and downright psychotic those character traits essentially undo any kind of empathy or remorse that could have been mustered up for them.
This was a movie that had me fooled. It seemed like maybe, just maybe, I was getting something more than your run of the mill, predictable thriller, but that sadly was not the case. The filmmakers really dropped the ball on this one.
