October 23

#11 out of 13

The next film in the October 13 was a film that I had not heard about before, but found on Amazon Prime. It blended the horrors of a survival/revenge flick with the comedy of a dark nature. It worked extremely well.

According to IMDB, “Rivalries, dark secrets, and sexual tension emerge when three best friends find themselves stranded on a yacht in the middle of the ocean desperate for survival.”

This really mixed the two styles well, which is not an easy task. There have been so many horror/dark comedy amalgams over the years that simply failed to achieve the proper tone/balance. Harpoon hit a nice level between the two.

The best part of the comedy was the narrator, voiced by Brett Gelman (from Stranger Things and Fleabag) whose wry lines were the perfect soundtrack to the absurdity going on with these three friends.

The three actors who portrayed the central protagonists do a great job too. Munro Chambers played Jonah, Chris Gray played Richard and Emily Tyra played Sasha. They had a strong chemistry with each other and their emotions bounced around as we got to learn more about the trio.

Most of the film takes place aboard the stranded yacht and it created a real sense of isolation for each of the three. The use of Edgar Allan Poe’s only complete novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, as a plot point.

There are a bunch of scenes that were difficult to watch. Some that were painfully bloody or stomach wrenching. They fit well within the story unraveling on the screen.

I was not sure this was going to be for me after the very beginning of the film, but it rapidly became one that I was invested in and I really did enjoy watching it. The ending was satisfying too.

Two more movies to go in The October 13.