As a fairly enthusiastic bird watcher I had to watch this when I saw it advertised in the TV guide if only to see just how inaccurate the portrayal of the hobby would be. When we are shown bird watcher Roy entering the hide, arranging his equipment, sitting down then talking to himself referring to birds by there Linnaean names it looks as if he will exhibit every cliché in the book. Soon he is joined by Dave; a suspicious looking Liverpudlian who clearly has no interest in the bird life. They soon get talking though and Roy explains that he is hoping to find a sociable plover as it will be the last bird he needs to see to have seen every bird on the British list. As they chat Roy shares his sandwiches and the two of them exchange stories about their lives and how neither of them is with the women they loved. When Dave pops out to relieve himself it looks as if things are going to get bad for Roy
Roy hears on his radio that the police are looking for a killer and Dave is shown to have a pistol! When Dave returns the tension rises to a point where some shocking secrets are revealed and we learn that neither man is quite what he appeared to be.
As the film opened I was sure I would not like it, as the film seemed to misrepresent a hobby I enjoy, however as it progressed I got caught up with the story. This was almost largely down to Alex MacQueen who played Roy and Phil Campbell who played Dave. Director Marek Losey did a fine job keeping things very tense and claustrophobic. I was expecting a twist at the end but thankfully when that twist arrived it wasn't quite what I expected; it was much darker. It was a pity Roy's birding target wasn't more plausible; although with what we learn about him later on it could have been a clever sign that something was very wrong with him! Over all I enjoyed this more than I expected and would recommend it to people wanting an atmospheric film which doesn't need CGI and a huge cast to get things exciting.
As the film opened I was sure I would not like it, as the film seemed to misrepresent a hobby I enjoy, however as it progressed I got caught up with the story. This was almost largely down to Alex MacQueen who played Roy and Phil Campbell who played Dave. Director Marek Losey did a fine job keeping things very tense and claustrophobic. I was expecting a twist at the end but thankfully when that twist arrived it wasn't quite what I expected; it was much darker. It was a pity Roy's birding target wasn't more plausible; although with what we learn about him later on it could have been a clever sign that something was very wrong with him! Over all I enjoyed this more than I expected and would recommend it to people wanting an atmospheric film which doesn't need CGI and a huge cast to get things exciting.