If the measure of a good thriller is how anxious viewers get while watching the action unfold, then the survival film Alone gets high marks! Released in 2020, the movie is finally reaching a broader audience now that it’s on Netflix; it’s currently the second-most-watched film on the streamer.
Alone is a remake of the 2011 Swedish film Gone, written by Mattias Olsson. John Hyams, largely a television director who has also directed two movies in the Universal Soldier series, directed this story about a vulnerable young woman called Jessica (Jules Willcox) who is trying to turn over a new leaf when she crosses paths with a dangerous stranger (Marc Menchaca of Ozark). Hyams uses an incredibly minimalistic style for Alone, and the lack of any real soundtrack adds to the film’s verisimilitude. Even an innocuous opening scene featuring Jessica loading her battered Volkswagen and rented U-Haul feels ominous. As she packs up her meager belongings, we feel her aloneness, and it’s unsettling.
Jessica is on the road to Oregon to see her father. She recently lost her husband, and we can sense her despondency as she drives the lonely roads. Suddenly, a black Jeep comes up behind her on a rural highway, and the other driver’s actions are clearly deliberate and hostile. Shaken, Jessica pulls over at a rest stop, only to have the other driver approach her car window with apologies and excuses for his behavior. At first the man looks like a kindly real-life version of Ned Flanders, but there’s something about the flat look in his eyes that sends a chill down the spine.
Jessica senses something off in the man too, and many women will recognize the brisk way she brushes him off from their own past interactions with creepy men. We’ve all been trained to be mistrustful of strangers, particularly a strange man who nearly ran us off the road not long ago, and watching Jessica’s reaction to this man gave this viewer a visceral reaction. The “get away from him” feeling was so intense I had to say it out loud, and it wouldn’t be the last time. Over the next hour and 38 minutes I yelled at the screen repeatedly, even though as far as protagonists go, Jessica is pretty savvy.
As you can imagine, the story doesn’t end there. The stranger keeps popping up all over the place, and when she comes across him with a “broken down” car asking for help, our hackles go up again. He’s got his arm in a sling, a classic Ted Bundy trick, and yet again we’re shouting at Jessica not to believe him! It’s a trap!
The thing is, Jessica is a smart protagonist and she does everything right, but it’s still not enough. Soon she must choose whether to give up and succumb to her grief and depression, or whether to fight to the death for a second chance at life. As we watch her use her intelligence and mental and physical strength to escape the stranger’s grip over and over, it’s obvious that Jessica has made the decision not to go down without a fight. And fight she does, through the rain-soaked Oregon forest and into a river full of raging rapids. The movie offers tense scene after tense scene, and Jessica is no shrinking violet, so we find ourselves rooting for her more and more as the action progresses.
There’s a good reason that Alone is finally getting the audience it deserves. With only three real characters, sparse dialogue, few sound effects, and an admittedly predictable plot, it’s all about the acting and the tension created by the way it’s filmed. Even the scenes when Jessica is nervously driving at night are low-key scary. The camera shots of desolate headlights on pitch-black pavement trigger memories of our own solo excursions through rural areas with limited cell service and the horrifying thought of who could be lurking in the dark woods, waiting to steal away our lives.
Fair warning: This movie is all about triggers. It taps into the viewer’s deepest fears, including suicide, the loss of a loved one, murderous strangers, locked basements in secluded cabins, and ultimately, just being alone in general. Yet despite being repeatedly gaslighted, lied to, and out-and-out abused, Jessica keeps getting up and moving forward. The result is an immersive thriller that gets our blood pumping and heart racing, which is the whole point! Alone provides a safe thrill that helps us process complicated feelings about a world in which women are never fully safe, but it also reminds us that in the end, it’s up to us to decide how far we’ll go to survive.
Alone is now streaming on Netflix.
(featured image: Magnet Releasing)
