VOD Review: Hidden (2015)

It's not going to be easy to discuss Hidden, and especially not our reaction to certain plot elements and twists, without ruining the whole thing for anyone who hasn't seen it.

We will not spoil anything directly in this review, but in order to discuss the movie at all, we will have to lightly skirt around some spoilers, so anyone who has above-average deduction skills will probably start thinking about things, and might be able to figure out the mysteries of the movie before seeing it.

If you don't want to be spoiled, just read our handy, always 100% accurate recap at the bottom, and give it a go.

The movie opens with a man, his wife, and their daughter, living in a fallout shelter, having survived what looks to be the ravages of a massive plague. The quick glimpses of the world outside of the shelter are straight out of a  Post-Apocalyptic nightmare, and so they stay inside, living off of canned goods, and playing boring games in low-light that just can't be good for their eyes. Then again, living underground for 301 days can't be good for them in any way, so what does it matter?

"ONE MORE PRECOCIOUS COMMENT OUT OF YOU, AND I TAKE YOUR EYES!"

To make matters worse, there are monsters on the surface called Breathers, who are apparently out to kill anyone they find alive. The Breathers have hunted for them before, and with supplies dwindling after the better part of a year trying to conserve them, our survivors know that the time is coming when they will have to venture out into the destroyed world, and possibly confront the monsters. And most likely die.

Survival ensues.

"THEY'RE HEEEERRRREEEE."

Hidden is a solid, low budget Thriller that definitely gave us some solid bang for out buck. It's a slow burn, which is to say that a lot of the movie involves talking and no action, but the cast makes that lack of incident mostly bearable. If you like Alexander Skarsgard in general, then you'll like him in this one too, as he plays the loving father convincingly well. Andrea Riseborough plays the role of concerned mother equally well, and little Emily Alyn Lind has talent beyond her years. The actors really make this one work.

The truly interesting part about the movie though, is its twist. It's always the twist, isn't it? Well in this one, the twist involves what happened to civilization; what The Breathers are; and one more thing which you don't need to know about right now. We liked the twist, as it was different from anything we've seen in the Viral or Post-Apocalyptic Genres before, and that's a good thing; the movie basically hinges on that reveal, and if we hadn't bought into it, then we probably would have hated the whole thing. 

It honestly felt like a longer, well-produced episode of a show like The Twilight Zone or Masters of Horror, only for the modern age. It's very M. Night-ish.

"WAIT... WE'VE BEEN DEAD THE WHOLE TIME?!?" *PROTIP: THEY HAVEN'T.

On the negative side of things:

• It kind of annoyed us every time the mom called the daughter Zozo. It just sounded stupid, and grated on our nerves for some reason. 
• We also took issue with the fact that a group of people hiding for their very lives from monsters like The Breathers, would scream, yell for each other, bang things, and make noise like they didn't have a care in the world.
• The "I think they're here" bit with the little girl felt a bit Poltergeist-y.

THAT FRIGGING DOLL...

We enjoyed ourselves with Hidden. We're not sure why it's sat on the shelf for so long (it was filmed in 2012), but despite a few annoyances, we found it to be well-made and effective low budget effort that kept us engaged throughout. It was different, and that works for us.

If you like Post-Apocalyptic/Survival movies, then you'll probably enjoy Hidden a lot too. Just remember that your enjoyment of the movie will most likely hinge on to whether or not you buy into the twist at the end.

B-

Hidden is available now on VOD, and will be out on DVD on October 6th.

Since we hardly ever post any pictures of sexy men in our reviews, here's one of Alexander Skarsgard for the ladies. Also, some Andrea Riseborough for the gents... or ladies too, I suppose. It is 2015, after all.