The Disappearance Of Alice Creed

The Disappearance of Alice Creed begins with a van being stolen and ends with a different stolen vehicle being driven away. In between comes a tight, efficient thriller with just three actors and at least two whopper switcheroos.

It's refreshing to see someone putting the needs of the part over her image, and this is far from a halfhearted performance. It's gritty and gutsy.

And unlike many filmmakers who make movies to take pictures, Blakeson is interested in his players. His three principals deliver convincingly messy, ambiguous performances.

Like all top-notch best thrillers, The Disappearance of Alice Creed is a suspense-filled caper flick with enough twists and turns to leave the audience gasping and guessing until its final moments.

It wants to be a movie about the intersection between criminality and the class system but, for that, it could have used a bit more class.

A pulsating revelation on many levels at once.

A kidnapping story told in simple but effective way.

... An unnerving thriller that's driven by the threat of violence and the sexual proclivities of its protagonists.

What first-time director Blakeson does with this very familiar situation is cut it to the bone. Not only is there very little fat on this body, there's barely a skeleton.

Tense, thrilling kidnap story too violent for kids.

Tense, terse and beautifully crafted, it plays out with all the dread of a deadbolt hammering, inevitably, home.

The performances are nervy and vulnerable, lifting the material when Blakeson gets caught up in a few staring contests to pad out the film. At least in the first act, there's a real sense of threat.