Set in a dark, twisted, and deeply disturbing narrative, Rob Grant’s (Harpoon) Alive revolves around a woman and a man who wake up in an abandoned sanitarium only to find themselves captured by a sadistic and deranged caretaker.
Alive is one of those films that is a bit of a slow burner at the outset, falling into some of the expected cliches one finds in capture/torture flicks, while at the same time managing to subvert type by taking bold narrative turns that defy audience expectation by keeping viewers on a knife-edge (or is it scalpel-edge?). Viewing Alive is like playing a nail-biting game of cat and mouse, except the audience is kept guessing throughout on who will survive, or how will they die.
Grant opts for a grim aesthetic, the ethers of the sanitarium feel claustrophobic, nauseating, and unsanitary, bathing the viewer in a discomforting and visceral tone. The idea of being held captive, with someone ELSE completely fettering and controlling every part of you, as unidentified drugs are injected into you is frightening, which makes us empathize with the prisoners by asking how will they escape or surrender to Grant in a harrowing conclusion.
The film does create parallels with the original SAW (2004). Other than the theme of torture, Alive surround two characters captured and being held hostage without any memory of how they got there and are imprisoned by a sadistic capturer whose motives are very diabolic. The film plays out as a grap box of mystery where the core characters and their purpose to their captor is the mystery of the whole plot.
Curiously, in Russia the movie is called SAW The Beginning. Even though it is thematically analogous, Alive is not a part of the SAW franchise and is arguably a better movie than a few of the SAW sequels. Russia has a brandishing problem where movies have to be related to one of the famous franchises for marketing purposes. While Alive would fit comfortably in a SAW movie, it definitely does not need assistance.
What I found most captivating about the film was the performance of the three primary characters, The unnamed male and female patients Thomas Cocquerel and Camille Stopps, and her crazy sadist torturer (Angus Macfadyen). These documentarians are introduced, but they purposely do not give them names which helps build introdugue throughout the film and brings an achingly powerful dynamic in which you don’t know what will happen.
The broken man, who has no idea of who he is and what has happened to him, is played exceptionally well by Thomas Cocquerel. He is expertly supported by Camille Stopps, whose character acts as an anchor because of her strong will to escape horrific circumstances. Angus Macfadyen is completely unhinged as he subjects his patients to violent and sadistic tortures that are sure to make viewers cringe.
The movie is filled with gore impressive blood-curdling sights and gut-wrenching visuals, especially towards the end of the film. Alive features a strong narrative and a lot of bloodshed, providing a purpose to the gore rather than having it for the sake of it.
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