Review: Rupture

If one took a shot for every time the line "What do you want from me?" was uttered in the sci-fi abduction thriller Rupture, then one would be fairly drunk at the end 102-minute running time. Perhaps being intoxicated is the best way to view the film since the intrigue of its central mystery quickly dissipates and grows tiresome.

Noomi Rapace stars as Renee, a Montreal-born single mother who drops off her son with her ex-husband one weekend only to find herself abducted and taken to a makeshift medical facility. It seems she's been targeted for quite some time; unbeknownst to her, surveillance cameras have been placed all around her home. Now she finds herself strapped to an examining table and observed by a group of unnervingly captors, who inject her with a mysterious chemical substance and keep going on about her "interesting skin."

She's not the only one being held captive. "They need us," murmurs one other hostage as she's wheeled past him. Yet what exactly are they needed for? The purpose is slowly revealed when Renee manages to break herself from her restraints and crawls through the ventilation system in hopes of finding a way out. It seems the captors are terrorising their captives with their worst fears in order to trigger some sort of genetic mutation. Unfortunately, not all the subjects survive the emotional torture.

If there's one relatively remarkable aspect of Rupture, it is Jeremy Reed's appropriately creepy production design. The maze-like layout of the facility lends tension to Renee's determined efforts and the stylishly dank surroundings enhance the nightmarish situation. Director Steven Shainberg doesn't withhold from depicting the horrors inflicted upon Renee and her fellow prisoners - those with fears involving spiders, drowning, or daddy issues may do well to steer clear of this film. Unfortunately, the anticipated titular mutation is poorly done.

Rapace has already established her physical prowess in Ridley Scott's Prometheus (and will do so again in Scott's upcoming sequel Alien: Covenant), so her exertions here are nothing new. In fact, this is not a role that serves her well and almost borders on the detrimental.

Rupture

Directed by: Steven Shainberg

Written by: Brian Nelson, Steven Shainberg

Starring: Noomi Rapace, Peter Stormare, Kerry Bishé, Michael Chiklis, Lesley Manville