FF 2009 Review. Duress

What would you do to protect your family? That is the question laid out by the creators of Duress, a dark thriller about what a man could do if faced by that situation.

Richard Barnett is trying to cope with his wife's recent suicide and also trying to get closer to his daughter who has become distant and depressed. One night while stopping for coffee at a donut shop he meets a man who at first seems overly friendly but turns suddenly to violence which leaves Barnett implicated in murder. The killer, Abner Solvie, says that if he tells anyone what happened then his daughter would be next. 

The film then focuses on the lengths a man can go to to protect the ones you love. Tormented by Abner stalking him and forced to take part in rather illegal activities Barnett gets a first hand look at how a killer works and also learns a thing or two about taking care of business should the situation arrive. And it does arrive, big time.

Again this was one of those films I knew nothing about before going in to it and didn't know what to expect. What I got was a decent little thriller which tries to twist and turn the story in your head, leaving you all buggaboo in the end. Does it succeed? Well to an extent, it wasn't the twist ending I was fearing it was so that was good. 

The performances by the leads keep things elevated above most low budget thrillers of this sort, with Sakis Rouvas being especially charming and utterly insane at the same time. The standout performance however is the daughter, Sarah, played by Ariel Winter.

I can't say that I loved this film but I liked it enough for me to recommend it to those who like mystery stories and dark thrillers.