Repent – Screening Review

Just over a year ago we sadly lost the television presenter Caroline Flack who sadly took her own life after feeling over wheeled by the stresses that being a tv personality brought about. As a result of her passing, a #bekind campaign was launched and promoted across tv channels and social media where the whole premise was to be kind and remember that everyone is going through something different. It is a terrible shame that it took the passing of a tv personality for people to start thinking about others and we wish that this thoughtfulness would have been popularised earlier as we might not have lost so many people in our lives! Now in 2021, we seem to have forgotten about this campaign and despite having all gone through a global pandemic, losing loved ones and loneliness being at an all-time high. You would think that these shared traumatic events would have brought us all closer together and encouraged us to be nicer to one another but it only seems to have divided some people. Additionally, as a result of the current global lockdowns, there has been an intense discussion around the importance of money. Every time it was announced that the UK would go into lockdown, everyone thought about the small business owners (who through no fault of their own) had to close for extended periods of time and potentially permanently due to the restrictions that were in place. The people in charge had to always consider what was the safest choice for the country but also balance that against the financial effects to decide what was best. I did not envy any of the MPs during the lockdown periods as they were making incredibly tough decisions that would result in the loss of lives whatever decision was made. The people who oppose Boris Johnson (the current UK prime minister) have made a point in line to suggest that the lives lost could have been avoided if certain actions were taken and this then means that he was partly responsible for the loss of their lives.

We were recently sent a recording of the brand new short film “repent” which is an intense and dark movie that essentially reminds everyone that your actions have consequences. The story follows two parallel journeys and the conversations that take place across their adventures. In one unit we have (I assume) an extremely successful CEO who is obsessed with generating income and the bottom line but seems to ignore the people who work for her. She appears to be a militant boss who does not care for the humans that she has employed as in her eyes they are simply a means to making more money. In the other car, we have a man (and a woman) who seems to be much more empathetic and has a tremendous amount of awareness towards other people situations. These contrasting characters clash with each other which ends with the boss having to deal with a decision she had made before.

Repent has been artfully filmed and produced to constantly keep the audience on the edge of their seats which is extra impressive considering the limited props, locations, effects etc. The cast is only made up of four cast members who all deliver excellent performances and help ground the story in the real world. The majority of the action within Repent takes place in a car driving through a dark and ominous forest and the dialogue is usually between just two characters. As someone with a fairly short attention span, I was incredibly impressed by how these four performers were able to hook the viewers into the story and not let them go until the very end. This is a testimony to their acting abilities but also shows the importance of production elements. I don’t think that if this film had had a bigger cast, over the top setting etc it would have been any more impactful. I think the almost stripped down and realistic portrayal helped emphasise the message and made it much more accessible to the general audience. This is absolutely a film for a more mature audience as the tension and intensity of the story would be too much for a young viewer. There is also strong language throughout, the use of cigarettes and the closing sequence of the film implies a tremendous amount of violence and gore.

Overall , this is a very beautifully produced/created money that explores a message that important now more than ever. It manages to keep you engaged and hooked throughout despite the limited movie extras which really helps the performers showcase their talents excellently. I would rate this movie 4.5 stars out of 5!