Alone

Name: Alone
Genre: Thriller
Released: September 18, 2020
Duration: 98 min
Rating: 70
Cast: Anthony Heald, Betty Moyer, Brenton Montgomery, Emily Sahler, Jonathan Rosenthal

2020

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 48 Ratings

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6.6

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6.6	Your Score
6.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 48 Ratings

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Alone

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Movie Details & Credits

Magnet Releasing | Release Date: September 18, 2020 | Not Rated

Starring: Anthony Heald, Betty Moyer, Brenton Montgomery, Emily Sahler, Jonathan Rosenthal, Jules Willcox, Katie O'Grady, Kristin Carey, Laura Duyn, Marc Menchaca, Max Huskins, Nico Floresca, Shelly Lipkin

Summary: Jessica (Jules Willcox), a grief-stricken widow, flees the city in an attempt to cope with the loss of her husband. When Jessica is kidnapped by a mysterious man and locked in a cabin in the Pacific Northwest, she escapes into the wilderness and is pursued by her captor.

Director: John Hyams

Genre(s): Thriller

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 98 min

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Critic Reviews

Michael Roffman

Sep 18, 2020

Alone is exactly what it sells — a taut, hot-wired survival thriller. With its gaunt storytelling, meaty characters, and high-stakes action, the film delivers on all fronts. Read full review

Dennis Harvey

Aug 29, 2020

Accomplished in all its tech and design departments, Alone is easily the best of several recent hunted-woman-in-the-wilderness films, including fellow indies “Ravage” and “Range Runners” as well as the flashier French “Revenge.” It doesn’t necessarily need the structural gimmickry of onscreen “chapter” titles (“The Road,” “The Rain,” etc.), but that’s a minor quibble. Read full review

Frank Scheck

Sep 17, 2020

Alone proves a highly effective genre exercise. Read full review

Chuck Bowen

Sep 12, 2020

John Hyams’s film refutes the frenetic clichés of so modern American thrillers. Read full review

Jeannette Catsoulis

Sep 17, 2020

This minimalist survival thriller unfolds with such elegant simplicity and single-minded momentum that its irritations are easily excused. Read full review

Richard Whittaker

Sep 17, 2020

The sense of true wilderness is amplified by sound mixers Morgan Hobart and Brian Mazzola, who deploy bug rattles and rain splatters like weapons, building in the diegetic sound of nature so that the odd moments of silence are truly oppressive and menacing. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Odie Henderson

Sep 18, 2020

Alone gives us little reason to care if our hero makes it out alive, but I have to give credit where it’s due: Jessica isn’t written as some damsel in distress. Though she does make a questionable choice or two, she’s more crafty and engaged than a standard victim. Read full review

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User Reviews

Fababies

Oct 2, 2020

Suspenseful! Deliverance-oogy feeling and heart racing. Just loved this! No nudity and doesn't go too far... one of best suspense films this year.

8 of 8 users found this helpful80

TomDeBomb

Aug 17, 2021

By the end of the independent film directed by John Hyams, Alone I was out of breath, my palms sweaty, my knuckles white. As the credits rolled I realised ninety minutes had gone by in what felt like an instant. It isn't often a piece of media can conjure such intense emotions as Alone doesBy the end of the independent film directed by John Hyams, Alone I was out of breath, my palms sweaty, my knuckles white. As the credits rolled I realised ninety minutes had gone by in what felt like an instant. It isn't often a piece of media can conjure such intense emotions as Alone does so effortlessly. Alone follows Jessica Swanson a woman moving house to a new neighbourhood in her car however she is pursued by an ever-present stalker and it all evolves from there into a symphony of thrills. The plot is beautifully simple, almost self aware in its primitiveness. It attempts to deliver a taut, tense cinematic experience which it succeeds at in flying colours. The character of this elusive stalker frightened me to my core. He is so grounded in reality which makes him all the more disturbing. Like a wolf in sheep's clothing he dwells among us and strikes unsuspecting women through cunning manipulation and extreme persistence. Really terrifying stuff. I usually don't comment on acting since to me it doesn't make a large difference in the quality of a film but Marc Menchaca plays this character very well. Until the second act of the film he technically doesn't do anything wrong though he definitely seems off. If not done properly he could come across as quite a likeable guy but Marc gives him just the right amount of creepiness to terrify me from start to finish as his savage and abhorrent tendencies are slowly revealed.

One thing that struck me when watching the film was the masterful cinematography. Federico Verardi is able to show so much with so little. Every clear, concise frame is interesting on some level keeping the viewer glued to the screen. At first I felt the widescreen aspect ratio didn't suit the claustrophobic mood but it soon grew on me giving the vast, stunning yet unforgiving American wilderness a sense of grandeur as if the forest itself is spectating this brutal cat and mouse scenario.

All in all, I really enjoyed Alone. It is pure, honest, visceral, reviving cinema. It doesn't reinvent the wheel but the wheel it uses is polished to a glistening shine. I usually don't enjoy thrillers (I am a bit of touchy with horror films) but this had me enthralled. Go and watch as long as you don't pass out from stress halfway through the film I think you'd enjoy it. Hope this review helped!… Expand

6 of 6 users found this helpful60

patnian

Nov 11, 2020

While Alone doesn't 'reinvent the wheel' as thrillers go, it's great, nerve shredding entertainment. In the Covid era this modest film should do really well at the cinema {where it's being screened} if there's any justice. Recommended.

8 of 8 users found this helpful80

Rcavey92212

Dec 17, 2020

Originally a festival fave in 2018, this film became a sizable success during the pandemic benefitting from great reviews ( 94% RT) and a solid audience score. The film is an intense, sometimes frustrating, simplistic theater that focuses on a young woman moving cross country who comes upOriginally a festival fave in 2018, this film became a sizable success during the pandemic benefitting from great reviews ( 94% RT) and a solid audience score. The film is an intense, sometimes frustrating, simplistic theater that focuses on a young woman moving cross country who comes up against as serial killer. It's a survival thriller that takes a bit to find it's stride but when it does is quite impressive. Filmed beautifully with a solid lead performance this stylish horror flick is slick, escapist entertainment. I expect great things from the director and actress moving forward.

***.5/5… Expand

4 of 4 users found this helpful40

JLuis_001

Sep 27, 2020

Massively overrated. It's poorly written and poorly executed.

The serial killer is a cartoon that basically reviews the vast majority of cliches that involve these characters and his dialogues hurt because they're so stupid. It certainly has its positive points, more than anything that itsMassively overrated. It's poorly written and poorly executed.

The serial killer is a cartoon that basically reviews the vast majority of cliches that involve these characters and his dialogues hurt because they're so stupid.

It certainly has its positive points, more than anything that its main character is not a lady in distress, so she's not a simplistic victim, however the story offers little to make you feel really interested or concerned about her well-being.
So it goes without saying that it never becomes a more intense or more engaging experience.

It's hard for me to understand how it has received so many positive critics.… Expand

1 of 10 users found this helpful19

NelaJewels

Feb 9, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Okay the movie all together was not all bad but it was not good either. It was not realistic as in she is in the woods all night and in the morning his car passes right next to her. What are the odds? She also makes alot of bad decisions during the movie that to me are not realistic at all. The man has some kind of a 6th sense sensing her at some point when she is bidding in the car which made me disconnect from the characters. The movie did not give me anything to get attached to the woman or make me care if she lives or die.… Expand

0 of 8 users found this helpful08

Sunnygirl

Oct 7, 2020

What a waste of money. Why make a movie were the characters make choices no one would in real life. Makes it very annoying and unwatchable.

0 of 9 users found this helpful09

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