How Much Tension Can You Wring From 2 People in a Trailer on a Dark and Stormy Night?
In a lonely trailer at the far end of a park, a man lives with only his own mind as company. There’s something almost poetic about his solitude; it’s the kind of masculine isolation often mythologized in fiction. His name is Patrick (Brendan Rock) and he’s exactly the kind of man you would expect to find alone, muttering to himself.
We first see Patrick sitting at a table, presumably struggling to gather his thoughts. Then a violent storm begins raging outside. Occasionally, his front door is illuminated with lightning, glowing behind a modest white curtain. During this almost apocalyptic downpour, there’s a knock at the door. In walks a young woman (Jordan Cowan), thin and attractive, with long brown hair and big, expressive eyes. She asks to use the phone, but Patrick suspects his mysterious guest wants something else from him.
Set in a single location, You’ll Never Find Me (streaming on Shudder March 22) is as bare-bones as thrillers come. The Aussie horror movie’s greatest strength is its atmosphere: The thunder, lightning, and sound of rain pounding against the thin walls of the trailer create a palpable sense of dread. When the young woman arrives, it’s genuinely startling. Who would be out in a storm like this? As Patrick questions her, unease builds and we begin to wonder if she arrived at this particular trailer on purpose.
His suspicions seem warranted at first—she never even gives her name—but over time, as they converse, it becomes clear that Patrick isn’t all there. He claims he doesn’t have a phone and whenever she suggests leaving, he tries to convince her otherwise. Instead of getting to know his guest, Patrick rambles on about loneliness and the futility of living. Welcoming her to join in his misery, he feeds the woman, requests she shower, and even has a jumper for her to wear. He says it belongs to his dead wife, but it’s hard to imagine a man like Patrick ever being married. Soon, his aggressive nature begins to scare his guest, making her wonder if things are really as they seem.
The most unique aspect of this film, the first feature from Australian directors Indianna Bell and Josiah Allen, is its perspective. Instead of following the defenseless young woman, we begin and end with the lonely man. He barely understands who he is or what he’s doing, and neither does the audience. We are left to contemplate what’s real and what’s simply a trick of his mind. As Patrick, Rock skillfully alternates between stoicism and aggression, keeping us guessing as to what his next move will be. His co-star has much less to do; Cowan expresses as much as she can within the confines of a thinly drawn role.
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If only there were more of a point to Patrick’s conflict with his visitor. The film never makes a good case for why we’re following this man in particular and what makes his inner demons unique. You’ll Never Find Me only has enough characterization for a short film. Stretched to feature length, it fails to reach the depths of Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here, another story about a male loner grappling with his inner demons. Where did Patrick come from? Does he have any family? How did he end up this way? Not even the set decoration provides answers; there are no photos or telling objects. The film provides only a spare story and two characters, expecting the audience to fill in the rest. But there are limits to what even an active imagination can conjure from so little—and limits to our interest, too.
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