Screwdriver review.
Coming to VOD this Friday, Screwdriver is a minimalist psychological thriller with a fantastic lead performance and a haunting concept.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Screwdriver
Directed by Cairo Smith
Written by Cairo Smith
Starring AnnaClare Hicks, Charlie Farrell and Milly Sanders
Screwdriver Review
Outside of one brief scene in the middle of the movie, Screwdriver features a three-person cast. Outside of the final image of the picture…it takes place in one location. There are important narrative reasons for both choices…as well as for the two exceptions. I’m sure that there are budgetary concerns as well…but the great thing about Screwdriver’s economy of characters and setting is that they fit the story like a glove. I’m not going to go into my usual rant about independent movies succeeding when they understand what they can do and work inside of that box instead of trying to push for things they can’t do. Rest assured, writer/director Cairo Smith, understands this better than most.
This is Smith’s first feature film…which makes the accomplishment even more impressive. He knows what he has…and he knows how to use it. It helps that what he has is a fantastic trio of actors. While the story can, at times, feel more at home as a play…Smith justifies the chosen medium by bringing us onto his stage to experience the alternating portrayals of emotion and coldness firsthand. Screwdriver may unfold through the conversations of three people…but they’ve saved you a seat at the table.
Emily (AnnaClare Hicks) reaches out to old high school friend Robert (Charlie Farrell) after her marriage falls apart. Robert invites her to stay with him and his wife Melissa (Milly Sanders). Robert is a psychologist. Melissa, a driven big wig at a pharmaceutical company. Those professional expertise’s alone should set off an alarm. In fact, Screwdriver, begins with a literal one. Robert tells Emily that she can smoke in their pristine home if she wants to. While she opens up to him about her situation…an unseen Melissa has rigged the smoke alarm to go off. An opening salvo in a story about control, manipulation and gaslighting.
Something is off about this situation from that first moment. Emily can see it too…this isn’t the story of a person completely unaware of their surroundings. On more than one occasion, Emily believes that leaving the house is the right thing to do. At first, she believes that she isn’t welcome. She doesn’t think that Melissa wants her there. She is reassured time and time again that this isn’t the case. Sanders makes Melissa a real wild card…from scene to scene, moment to moment…it’s hard to be sure how she will react to things. Over time…Emily’s desire to leave becomes more about herself. Not to save herself, mind you…that she feels unworthy of the hospitality.
The difference between those two reasons sits at the center of Screwdriver’s narrative. Emily’s self-doubts make her a prime candidate for emotional manipulation. Robert is a stoic; kinder face she believes she can trust. His therapy sessions, however, may offer the most psychological manipulation in the story. Melissa is harder to read. Her unexpected turns between kindness and anger keep Emily unable to get a firm grasp on her situation.
We largely spend Screwdriver seated opposite Emily. AnnaClare Hicks’s face tells us more about the story than the purposefully slow revealing script does. It’s a fantastic performance. As is the work by Sanders and Farrell. The work makes Screwdriver a consistently interesting story. A story where you may not know where it’s heading…but are sure that it isn’t heading somewhere good. That’s the backbone of any good thriller. A quietly building tension between the characters. Tension that you have a front row seat to experience.
Those exceptions we talked about are far more than brief respites from growing unease. The fourth character we see here is the brief appearance of Emily’s husband Sean. It comes at a key moment in the story. We learn more about where Emily has been…and where she is heading…than had been allowed to that point. Even more important is the final image of the film. Played beneath the end credits…it’s somehow both unexpected and inevitable at the same time. Important to Emily…and to us, the viewer. A haunting conclusion to a story for which we no longer have a seat at the table.
Scare Value
I’ve never seen a movie quite like Screwdriver before. At times it felt like watching a play unfold…only the camera allowing it to feel much more intimate. That intimacy is a key to the movie’s success. We’re trapped in the house with Emily…equally unaware of what’s happening or what the endgame is. We know something isn’t right…and so does she. But, like Emily, the story wins us over and leads us to an unexpected place.
3.5/5
