SEPARATION (2013)

Studio:       Gravitas Ventures
Director:    Greg White
Writer:       Greg White
Producer:  Peter Apostolopoulos, Greg White
Stars:     Sarah Manninen, Peter Stebbings, Dmitry Chepovetsky, Rob deLeeuw, Barbara Gordon, Arcadia Kendal, Al Sapienza

Review Score: 

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Summary:

A couple struggling to repair their marriage discovers that they are being monitored after moving into a new suburban home. 

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

Angie rides her pink bike down a suburban street in secluded Hemlock Lake. As she rides into her driveway, she passes a “For Sale” realty sign with a “Sold” banner from agent Guy Sellers. After parking her bike against the porch, Angie goes inside. A voice says, “Mommy has to talk to you.” In the backyard, Jack Appleton smokes and contemplates at the water’s edge.

Liz Appleton talks to the bathroom mirror, convincing herself that she is “a good mother.” She brings Angie a sandwich and milk and asks if Angie likes her new room, but the little girl only pouts. Lizzie’s mother criticizes her parenting skills.

Liz and Jack argue about repairing their relationship and the influence of Liz’s mother. Jack refers to an event that has caused Liz to resent Jack. Liz has disturbing visions.

Out front, Guy Sellers introduces himself to Jack and talks about the real estate market. Guy becomes uncomfortable when he spots the bike leaning against the porch.

Jack becomes upset when he hears Liz talking to her mother about him negatively. While Jack rakes the leaves, Liz and her mother drive into town and go to the store. Liz buys a shirt for Angie. On her way back to the car, Liz sees Guy Sellers following her while two other men watch her from a distance. Liz takes her medication when the nightmarish visions return.

While Jack works in the yard, Angie rides away on her bike. Liz comes home and discovers that Angie is gone. While they drive the streets in search of her, Liz blames Jack for not keeping a closer eye on Angie. The couple eventually finds Angie along a road and they bring her back to the house.

Jack apologizes to Liz back home and they discuss their relationship again. Liz has a vision of a fetus in a tub full of blood while she bathes. Jack watches TV and sees a news report about a serial killer targeting local families. The report mentions the return of Detective Elliot Robinson to the case after being removed because his sister’s family was among the victims. Jack thinks he hears noises outside.

Liz comes downstairs and starts to become intimate with Jack. A Cesarean scar is seen on Liz’s stomach. Liz breaks off the moment when she sees a light in the shed outside. Jack tells her that nothing is out there.

A neighbor named Geoffrey comes to the door. Acting strangely, he asks to come inside, but the Appletons refuse. Geoffrey gives them potted flowers as a housewarming gift. Unbeknownst to the Appletons, the flowers contain a hidden camera. Geoffrey asks how their daughter is adjusting. Jack makes an arrangement to visit Geoffrey the next day. Geoffrey then pulls out a camera and snaps pictures of Jack and Liz, claiming that he is the editor of a neighborhood newsletter.

A short time later, Liz spots Geoffrey watching her from outside. Her visions continue, but she convinces Jack to look outside while she talks to her mother about her lost child.

Liz goes to the dining room and hallucinates a dinner scene with Jack, Angie, and her mother. She inadvertently slashes a knife when Jack startles her. Jack accuses her of being crazy. Liz blames Jack for making the decision to take the baby out of her. Jack tells her that it was the only way to save Liz’s life.

Jack goes outside and retrieves a hand axe when he sees a light in the shed. A knock is then heard at the front door, but the couple does not find anyone. Liz knits a sweater for Angie as she and Jack reconcile.

A car door is heard. Jack opens the door and sees Guy Sellers in the driveway. Guy claims to be retrieving his sign from the yard. He also claims that he neglected to tell the Appletons about a mold problem and asks to show them where it is in the house. Jack brings Guy in the house while Liz discovers the camera in the flowers. Liz then stabs Guy in the throat with a knitting needle. Jack finds a hidden camera in Guy’s lapel.

Jack tells Liz that she was right and that they need to leave. Jack returns to the front yard and sees someone pull away in Guy Seller’s truck. Geoffrey burns the pile of leaves in the back yard to grab Jack’s attention. Jack tells Geoffrey that he will not take the girl. Someone else enters the house while Jack and Liz are outside confronting Geoffrey.

Jack looks for the intruder upstairs. Geoffrey chokes out Liz, but she recovers and starts stabbing him. Upstairs, Liz finds Jack tied to a chair. From behind the chair, Detective Elliot Robinson points a gun at Liz. It is revealed that Liz has been hallucinating her mother’s presence. Her mother convinces Liz to rush the detective and he shoots her.

Angie is seen tied to her bed with a jump rope. Elliot and Geoffrey free her. Later, the police clean up the crime scene while a 911 call from Guy Sellers plays. After seeing the pink bike in the driveway, Guy recognized Liz as the woman from the serial killer sketches in the newspaper. The police recruited Guy to help them trap Jack and Liz and rescue the girl.

A dead man and woman are found in the basement. In a flashback scene from right before the story began, Jack and Liz are seen pulling up to the house and greeting owners Mike and Julie after Angie has ridden away on her bicycle.

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Review:

Few phrases are overused in entertainment criticism more than “slow burn.”  Unfortunately for my self-imposed moratorium on its use, few terms succinctly describe writer/director Greg White’s film “Separation” better than that tired phrase.  Yet while other movies forget the latter half of “slow burn” and end up only as the former, “Separation” remembers to keep its atmosphere on a constant simmer, even though it takes some time to light the first match.  The pace is intentional, but anyone waiting impatiently for that burn to erupt into a boil may begrudgingly discover that this is not that kind of story.

Peter Stebbings, who qualifies for a shortlist to don the Ziggy Stardust makeup should a David Bowie biopic ever be made, plays Jack, a suburban family man struggling to repair his deteriorating relationship.  Sarah Manninen is wide-eyed wife Liz, caught in a perpetual daze of prescription meds and unfettered optimism as coping mechanisms for a past tragedy.  Although the couple should be focused on settling into their secluded new home with their little girl Angie, it is what they do not have and what they have lost that weighs heavier on their minds.  Starting over in ominously named Hemlock Lake proves to be another challenge.  Jack and Liz have unwittingly joined the local Neighborhood Watch program, not as volunteers, but as the ones being watched.

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Like many low-budget independents by first time feature filmmakers, “Separation” is a mixed bag comprised mostly of well-composed elements, although it is not without its share of warts.  Cinematography is one example.

Keeping a story visually engaging when the majority of moments feature just two primary characters in a singular location is never an easy task.  “Separation” manages to spare unnecessary doldrums with carefully structured camera movements.  Scenes flow thanks in part to a camera that is nearly always panning, tilting, dollying, or sweeping.  This unanchored camera style goes a long way towards opening up a tightly condensed setting.

On the flip side, there are scenes when the color timing changes abruptly or the exposure is not reactive to a lighting blowout.  These quibbles will sail right by the less technically oriented and those who simply do not care, but this absence of polish undercuts the otherwise committed technical aspects of the film.

There are other instances where “Separation” feels like it does not possess the full confidence in its abilities to pull off its goal, which is to pull the rug out from an unsuspecting audience with a slow-build thriller.  The story adds at least one character that does not quite fulfill its purpose as a red herring.  It is as though the script was unsure it could keep suspicious viewers off the scent without peppering the plot with casual distractions.  Several shots are so on the nose that they suggest a fear of viewers not “getting it” to the point where cutting a second time to a realty sign and racking focus onto a bicycle are simply too obvious as tells.

Despite rough edges related to dollar signs and inexperience, “Separation” keeps its cards close to the chest when it comes time for the big money hand.  This is a film that is remembered or ignored based on how well it pulls off its grand illusion.  In that regard, “Separation” is a success.

Instant gratification types will be fidgeting in their seats long before the first act concludes.  But it is the third act where the film excels.  The steady stride and seemingly meandering tone is all a wind-up to the final revelation.  Better than that is the fact that the movie’s twist is not simply a tease of the brain, but it is a tease of the emotions.

What makes “Separation” effective is that it is more than just a mind game out to convince anyone of its cleverness.  “The “ah-ha” moment does not come with that grinning satisfaction of learning how a magician fooled you.  It is more like discovering that a trusted friend known for years has unexpectedly stabbed you in the back.  “Separation” challenges more than the abilities of perception.  It confronts how easily people make assumptions when the senses are deceiving.  The ending delivers an uncomfortable feeling of being woken to a previously unperceived reality.

Do not attempt to learn more about the story beforehand.  Do not try to move too far ahead of the characters.  Allow “Separation” to weave its narrative and then marvel at the mood it creates by the end.

Review Score:  70

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