Open Grave (2013) Directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego

Still kind of split on this movie. On the one hand it's being a perfectly original and fine movie but on the other it isn't always giving enough when it comes down to its story and storytelling.

This movie really doesn't sound all that original. It's one of those movies in which a bunch of people end up together at a place and they have no idea how they got there. or even who they are and with what purpose they were 'dropped' together. But luckily the movie is more original and also more creative than it sounds. The twists are all unusual and original ones and the movie doesn't limit itself to just one location. The movie also soon starts to turn into something else, which is all good and fine but I just can't really say that I liked everything about the story.

A movie can definitely be too mysterious and vague for its own good at times. And this movie is a great example of just that. Most of the time it leaves you in the dark about things and you only know just as much as the movie its characters, which isn't an awful lot. This perhaps all sounds greatly mysterious, tense, engaging and thrilling to you but as a matter of fact, the longer the movie isn't giving you any new information or great reveals, the bigger the chance you'll start to loose interest, as indeed also was the case with this movie for me.

I lost most interest about halfway through. The story really wasn't ever giving me enough to latch onto. The movie besides was lacking some decent character development for most part of the movie and it also wasn't always setting things up properly and effectively enough. The pacing besides also feels lacking at times, especially during the first half of the movie, when it also basically isn't revealing- or telling you anything yet.

But really, at the same time I also feel I shouldn't be too harsh on the movie, since it's definitely still is a far better and more creative one than I ever expected it to be and it had a good look to it and an interesting approach to the story, despite the fact that it wasn't always working out that well. Simple fact remains that's still a perfectly watchable movie, despite of all the problems I had with it.

Ultimately I have to say that this is a pretty good and original little movie to watch, even though obviously not everything about it works.

7/10

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