Ever get so drunk you end up in a police station and wake up with detectives questioning you about “what happened last night?” Just me? OK fine (joking). At some point in our lives of reckless youth, someone might have gone a little too far on a bender and then found themselves in a compromising situation that they must find a way to get out of. That’s what Felipe Mucci’s latest film Detained explores. Only things are not what they seem….
Rebecca (Abbie Cornish) is nervous about a date she got matched on. She heads to her local bar for a glass of wine to blow off some steam before the date. She briefly bonds with her friend and the bartender Sarah (Breeda Wool) before she sees a guy across the bar. After the two order drinks and quickly connect, Rebecca quickly forgets about her dating app date, and she proceeds to enjoy some car sex with the guy. That’s the last thing she remembers as her night’s just getting started!
Rebecca wakes up handcuffed at a police station. Detectives Avery (Laz Alonso) and Moon (Moon Bloodgood) begin questioning her about what happened last night. Rebecca thinks she might have just had an accident as she doesn’t remember a thing that happened after she started kissing the guy and is willing to just pay for whatever ticket/fine is needed. However, Detectives Avery and Moon are asking her about the blood on her car, and now it looks like she may have killed someone.
And that’s where Detained gets interesting. Rebecca must try and figure out what’s going on in real-time, but at the same time, something isn’t making sense. She’s not in a traditional police station, but more like a building made to look like a police station. The detectives say the police station is under renovation, so she is detained in their place that almost looks like a movie set the way it’s staged. Her court-appointed lawyer looks and acts like he has taken just about as many law school classes as I have. When Sarah visits Rebecca at the jail, she tells her to “run,” so it’s clear that these folks may not really be cops, and Rebecca is in danger.
Turns out the whole thing is a con. I’m glad Detained didn’t spend too much time trying to fool both Rebecca and the audience with the ruse. “Detective” Avery really is best friends with someone from Rebecca’s past who is now dead, and the $8 million the guy had before he died is missing. Avery wants that money and justice for his friend as he thinks Rebecca is responsible for his death and has the money. So Avery puts together a crew to try and set her up (the guy at the bar, the lawyer, and even the “prisoners” in the ”jail” are all involved in on the con) to try and get the money.
But Rebecca isn’t a fool. She’s resourceful and can read people. As Detained continues, you realize that despite how Avery’s crew seemed to have their stuff together, they quickly turn amateurish. The crew starts dying and betraying each other for the hope of the $8 million. A bunch of convenient coincidences happen for Rebecca to help turn the tide of the struggle in this cat-and-mouse game over the money. There’s also the introduction of a Chekhov’s Gun in the form of a character that pretty much telegraphs the ending of Detained. The ending also is a little too rushed in how the resolution matches up with the prologue of the film that shows the aftermath.
That said, Detained is still a fun ride. The single setting (probably for budgetary reasons) of the film provides a claustrophobic feeling for not only Rebecca, but all those involved in on the con as well as everyone’s nerves rack up as the film progresses. Both Laz Alonso and Moon Bloodgood (who absolutely should have bigger careers as they are always delivering in their roles no matter how big or small) are great as they at first spew extreme confidence that gets unraveled quickly. The same goes for Abbie Cornish who begins the film confused and vulnerable, only to Walter White her way through the rest of the film. Unfortunately Detained tries so hard to be a certain crime thriller from 1995 (complete with its into, narrative twists, and ending) that it serves to be a pale imitation of the much better film. Perhaps a less predictable ending might from the script have served it better, but it still is a fun ride.
Detained is currently available in theaters and On Demand.
