"You'll Never Find Me" - Film Review
There’s nothing like a dark and stormy night to bring two unlikely people together. Such is the case in You’ll Never Find Me. Patrick (Brendan Rock) lives alone in a trailer in the middle of nowhere, and that’s exactly how he likes it. He wants to be by himself, and usually is, until a woman (Jordan Cowan) knocks on his door in the middle of a thunderstorm. As the two awkwardly make chitchat, it becomes clear that they’re each holding secrets close to their chests and this night won’t end well for one, if not both, of them. You’ll Never Find Me slowly reveals its hand and provides one hell of a night.
There’s always something intriguing about a film this bare. You’ll Never Find Me has two characters in (mostly) one location for an hour-and-a-half. Within these constraints, directors Indianna Bell and Josiah Allen have created a compelling genre flick. They dance the camera around the small trailer, anthropomorphize the thunderstorm into a character of its own, and let the tension of the strange circumstances slowly build to its catastrophic ending. The world that Bell and Allen have created gives even the most mundane sounds and images the potential for terror. The way the trailer creaks in the thunderstorm, how Patrick hums a tune as he cooks, and the screaming winds could all be normal, but there’s an ever-present undercurrent of something on the horizon. Bell and Allen drop clues along the way, but they don’t let the scope of the film become clear until the final act.
Courtesy of Maxx Corkindale. A Shudder Release.
As with all horror movies, it is the explanation of the series of odd events that separates the head-scratchers from the instant classics. You’ll Never Find Me falls somewhere in the middle, perhaps skewing a bit to the classic side, but not able to claim that distinction outright. The ending, as beautifully shot, paced, and directed as can be, doesn’t feel like the most compelling way for the film to conclude. Sure, it all technically makes sense, and it’s not a so-far-out-of-left-field ending that the audience leaves with a bad taste in their mouths. But it doesn’t live up to the excellent tension and groundwork the rest of the film laid out. The first two-thirds are so taut, so expertly laid out, that you’re expecting a true wallop to hit you as the credits roll, but what’s delivered is a soft punch. One that can be deduced early on, but is written off in the hopes of something better coming along.
That’s not to say You’ll Never Find Me should be ignored. Quite the contrary. This is the debut feature of Bell and Allen, and if it’s any indication of what’s to come, their names should become household knowledge for horror fans. You’ll Never Find Me is a claustrophobic, taut, two-person thriller that will make you think twice about knocking on a stranger’s door in the middle of a thunderstorm.
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