Director Francesco Giannini walks a fine line considering current events with his narrative feature debut. Set in a US hotel, it features a group of characters falling prey to a violent strain of flu. Feeling comfortable?
Val (Carolina Bartczak) and Branden (Mark Gibson), along with their daughter Kelly (Bailey Thain) are having to check into a hotel while they are moving house. Val sees this as the perfect opportunity to leave her abusive husband. In the parking lot, they almost literally run into Naomi (Yumiko Shaku), who is pregnant and alone. Passing pleasantries in the corridor of the hotel, Naomi reveals to Val that the father of her unborn child was “a bad man”, something Val can relate to. Before long, however, Naomi and other guests at the hotel begin to develop symptoms of the deadly virus they have heard about on the radio…
Hall utilises a very simple premise and sets its stall out early on – we see Naomi struggling in the corridor before flipping four hours earlier – and this time jump is used several times. So it’s a good job that this isn’t where the film’s tension and excitement will come. The main thrust of the action is Val trying to get herself and her daughter away from Branden – a tough ask anyway even before you factor in the deadly flu.
A nefarious character is introduced midway insinuating the virus is a man-made construct, but it’s not until after the end credits that this is elaborated on. As MacGuffins go, it’s an interesting one so it’s a shame it’s not given more screen time.
The attempt to escape for mother and daughter is the real plight, and there are some tense moments, but there’s very little to build on as, while the infected pose a risk of becoming violent, we only see it briefly and they can be mostly stepped over. It’s still an interesting story with a poignant premise, particularly with some of the conspiracy theories some crackpots are touting right now, it just could have been much more.
