THE HIDDEN MOVIE 2016 PLUS
THE HIDDEN MOVIE 2016 SERIES

2 or some of the work done in Rodrigo Cortes’ Buried. It’s filmmaking that feels reminiscent of Tarantino’s work in the grave sequence in Kill Bill, Vol. Hidden garners a lot of its goodwill but wisely keeping you in darkness, cramped framing, and isolated shots that make you feel just as trapped as the characters. These films that depict closed off environments usually seem to have some sort of collected caveat, with Room also going in this direction, but 10 Cloverfield Lane having plenty of unspoken obligations that are in place for safety. Hidden also deals with an efficient set of four rules that are in place to ensure safety in this ecosystem. It’s a welcome angle of anxiety that’s absent elsewhere. It adds a certain urgency and ticking clock element to either the food running out, or someone needing to go outside and get more. Here the strain is absolutely felt, which makes this grimness all the more powerful. The other films like this show sufficiently stocked environments or situations with replenishing goods. Complications like a rat problem are devastating as the family is literally surviving off the same supplies to live that vermin are. The film then throws additionally tough scenes into the mix, where elements like the dire food situation and the need to assess their final items of nourishment go on. It’s fascinating to see how the film shows the limited joy and games that are available instances play parallel to many moments from out of Room, albeit Hidden featuring a lot more solitaire. It’s a testament to the idea of the power of family and how anything can be tolerable if you’re with people who love you. Alexander Skarsgard does a fantastic job as Ray and keeping his daughter pacified while making the grisly reality that his family’s facing seem not so bad. In all of these pictures, but particularly in Hidden, the family’s morale and bond is fundamental.

THE HIDDEN MOVIE 2016 PLUS

In this case the film’s dynamic is made up of a father, mother, and daughter (and her creepy doll), whereas 2015’s Room is simply a mother and son, and Cloverfield offering up a male and female stranger, plus their captor. On the topic of this year’s 10 Cloverfield Lane and other recently claustrophobic pictures, it’s natural to explore how Hidden does things differently. It’s exploring epic storytelling through minimalism, and it’s a great tool when done right. It’s not unlike how 10 Cloverfield Lane can have a giant monster apocalypse going on outside, but treat the small-scale drama that’s going on inside a bunker as the fascinating focal point. The picture works more intuitively, letting you try and figure things out on your own while focusing on what’s going on in this fallout shelter as that’s what’s really important. Hidden never makes it too on-the-nose in regard to what’s happened or is going on either. The film exhibits its restraint early on by this family talking about their dire reality in believably veiled dialogue (like how the “fire changes people” or the remaining people above ground being known as “breathers”). The film states that they’ve been in this situation for 301 days now, which is certainly a realistic amount of time to be barely surviving in a fallout shelter. Hidden tells the story of Ray, Claire, and Zoe, a displaced family that have made their way into a fallout shelter, turning it into their surrogate home in order to avoid the dangers that lurks above ground. Now more than ever however, with the Duffers’ release of Stranger Things and such similar “isolation apocalypse” stories becoming increasingly popular, it feels like an especially relevant time to revisit this film and reassess its merits in the current cinematic landscape. The simple truth is that most people don’t know this film even exists. Hidden’s lack of reputation and it failing to make an impact on audiences lies more on the fact of the film seeing an extremely limited release than anything to do with its quality. Hidden is perfectly serviceable and achieves what it sets out to while still doing so in a creative, minimalist manner. It’s not an amazing one, either, but it’s a very promising, controlled debut feature from Matt and Ross Duffer. That being said, Hidden isn’t a bad movie. In fact, it might not even be a film that you’ve heard of. Hidden might not be a film that conjures many feelings when it’s brought up.

THE HIDDEN MOVIE 2016 SERIES

With the Duffer Brothers mysterious series “Stranger Things” currently burning up Netflix, we check in with their underseen debut feature

The hidden movie 2016