Father Peter (Colm Meaney) is wrapping up his duties for the evening. That's interrupted by a knock on the door. Victor (Stephen Moyer), armed with a gun and bleeding, enters. The first thing Victor wants to know is how many exits the church has. Father Peter and Victor start to talk and eventually begin to find common ground, perhaps more than they would like to admit. The dialogues are very good and there is very little physical action. The tension comes from the back and forth as allegations are made on all sides and at the same time you have to determine who to trust. This movie is full with twists and surprises as the night wears on. Some of these are shocking, others are just ordinary and a couple are borderline believable. The acting of Colm Meaney (Father Peter) and Stephen Moyer (Victor) was good. A meagre performance of Clare-Hope Ashitey (Willow). This is a good movie but if you are looking for action, like the cover suggests, this one is not for you. To enjoy this movie, you need to be very patient.
13 Reviews
Dismal Three Hander
tim-9355 April 2022
I watched this because it starred Colm Meaney, but I was betrayed.
This dreary one hour and twenty minutes piece concerns a hoodlum, or is he an undercover cop, a cop or is she an undercover hoodlum, and a priest, or is he an undercover soldier.
There are no redeeming features, attractive personalities, in fact, no one to identify with at all.
Not even the father - son and father - daughter dynamic is explored beyond a bland statement.
There is tension in the "will the telephone work, and who will speak with whom when it does?" The conundrum of who holds the power is defeated by the equal possession of equal looking guns.
This is an arty stage play, filmed in a single location, with no expense spent on elevating a chess endgame to the screen. Was it worth it? I think not.
This dreary one hour and twenty minutes piece concerns a hoodlum, or is he an undercover cop, a cop or is she an undercover hoodlum, and a priest, or is he an undercover soldier.
There are no redeeming features, attractive personalities, in fact, no one to identify with at all.
Not even the father - son and father - daughter dynamic is explored beyond a bland statement.
There is tension in the "will the telephone work, and who will speak with whom when it does?" The conundrum of who holds the power is defeated by the equal possession of equal looking guns.
This is an arty stage play, filmed in a single location, with no expense spent on elevating a chess endgame to the screen. Was it worth it? I think not.
Good set up
BandSAboutMovies5 February 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Victor Strong is a wounded man (Stephen Moyer) who has taken Father Peter (Colm Meany, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) hostage with the hopes of confessing to his sins before he dies.
Director and writer David Beton (who also directed The Hatton Garden Job, Tower Block and I Am Soldier under the name Ronnie Thompson) has that great idea line at the top and then ratchets up the tension throughout, continually leaving the viewer guessing as to whether Strong is the hero or villain.
But does keep it up the whole way through?
Is Willow (Clare-Hope Ashitey, Children of Men) a good cop, here to arrest him? Or has she brought her gun and badge into the church with mad intentions? And is Strong telling the truth when he says that all he wants is for his daughter to know the truth about why her mother died? And even more to the point, does the priest have secrets of his own?
The three leads are all solid, but after the set-up, it gets quite talky. And when you'd hope to see the point of view of each character given their own narrative shift, the story plays out in real time.
This feels like a stage play - it isn't - with its solitary location and three leads. It works, but it feels like there was an opportunity to do more, to show more, but as it is, it's not the worst thing that you can find in the world of streaming.
Director and writer David Beton (who also directed The Hatton Garden Job, Tower Block and I Am Soldier under the name Ronnie Thompson) has that great idea line at the top and then ratchets up the tension throughout, continually leaving the viewer guessing as to whether Strong is the hero or villain.
But does keep it up the whole way through?
Is Willow (Clare-Hope Ashitey, Children of Men) a good cop, here to arrest him? Or has she brought her gun and badge into the church with mad intentions? And is Strong telling the truth when he says that all he wants is for his daughter to know the truth about why her mother died? And even more to the point, does the priest have secrets of his own?
The three leads are all solid, but after the set-up, it gets quite talky. And when you'd hope to see the point of view of each character given their own narrative shift, the story plays out in real time.
This feels like a stage play - it isn't - with its solitary location and three leads. It works, but it feels like there was an opportunity to do more, to show more, but as it is, it's not the worst thing that you can find in the world of streaming.
Has some potential to become a fine film but...
XueHuaBingYu12 February 2022
As headline says, "Confession" film indeed has some potential. The story line is not that bad. What destroyed this film is that they made it real short and left a lot of details. My opinion is thay this kind of story line really needs to go deeper and should have presented in details, so that it would be more interesting. Now, maybe because of low budget, so, they made it really, really short and hence, it couldn't make it interesting as it should have. While I was watching, I even felt that it was kind of boring because the presentation style is kind of dull and cold. I only kept watching because I wanted to know whether Victor Strong is a bad guy or not and what he called as the truth. Otherwise, I would stop watching even though runtime is just 1 hour and 20 minutes long.
Anyway, they had a chance to make this film a bit more interesting. Too bad that they couldn't make it and it turned out to be low budget, a bit dull and boring film. If they could make it interesting, I might give more stars.
BTW, I forgot to mention one little thing. Thriller? It's what the plot says. But I didn't find anything that made me thrilled. I watched the whole thing with normal mood.
Anyway, they had a chance to make this film a bit more interesting. Too bad that they couldn't make it and it turned out to be low budget, a bit dull and boring film. If they could make it interesting, I might give more stars.
BTW, I forgot to mention one little thing. Thriller? It's what the plot says. But I didn't find anything that made me thrilled. I watched the whole thing with normal mood.
If you like plays......
frosty-444318 April 2022
Psychological play between a man and his priest, it's about courage and family
S3pt3m63r9 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Not as bad as the reviews suggest. This starts out as an introspective psychological play between two men. The actors are well known to us and the drama commences with the injured man taking the priest hostage. Enter an injured police officer who starts to accuse the injured man of crimes he committed as a cop. The priest is torn between who to believe. Both men are stripped bare and confess and face up to themselves who they really are.
Like all great plays this is a tragedy and we are left emotionally drained by the courage and fortitude of the men. I loved it.
This play isn't for everyone, but if you like theatre, watching great actors plying their craft, then this is a treat. I'm so glad I didn't pay any attention to the reviews and watched this brilliant play.
Like all great plays this is a tragedy and we are left emotionally drained by the courage and fortitude of the men. I loved it.
This play isn't for everyone, but if you like theatre, watching great actors plying their craft, then this is a treat. I'm so glad I didn't pay any attention to the reviews and watched this brilliant play.
How did this even get made SPPOILERS
s_bibby4 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Pointless story line. It served no purpose to go on it could have been wrapped up in five minutes. Why she was hiding from Victor? Why didn't she just go put and get home? How did he find out about the sun??? None of ot made any sense. Love Colm but this was bad on a new scale.
Soooooo boring zzzzzzzzz
adyfife27 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Absolutely a waste of your precious life, so typical of todays new cheap budget films. Do yourself a favour and put on an old classic instead, when was the last time you watched shawshank redemption or the sixth sense, you'll thank me later.
Talking heads
supermellowcali20 February 2022
This is more of a theater play script than a movie, basically two people philosophizing for two thirds of it and telling us a story we have no reason to care about. Really uninteresting despite good acting and production, and nothing new or imaginative.
interesting three person film, but a little to slow
LetsReviewThat2625 April 2022
The film does start relatively quickly, but its still slow getting to the point of it. I did feel though that the three main leads were strong together and individually but if they had been put in a better setting it might have been more interesting. Overall the film was still ok and the plot was interesting but there just was not enough substance for how long the film was.
VIEWS ON FILM review of Confession
burlesonjesse53 February 2022
Warning: Spoilers
"I talk you listen, understand". Yeah we understand, you got a gun silly. Almost every persona in 2022's Confession (there are 5 of them) "talks" to no end and points a heater. It's like a play of the same name turned into a movie. In terms of entertainment, I could go either end on that kinda stuff.
So let's get this out of the way shall we. Confession takes place in a church. And the church as old-world as it looks, is the film's only set location. That'd be great if the gaffer turned the lights on once in a while. And that'd also be great if the characters resonated with me (but they didn't). With the exception of veteran actor Colm Meaney, all the pawns came off as cliches in every thriller I can think of.
Confession stars Stephen Moyer, Meaney, and Clare-Hope Ashitey. They respectively play an undercover cop, a priest, and I guess a bad cop. Their scenes wear you out for they "confess" and explain themselves too much. Confession at 90 minutes, is almost slowed down to a creep. There may be a twist or two in the dialogue but it all feels like it's headed nowhere.
Confession is oddly directed by the unseasoned David Beton. David's look is dark and banal. He uses a few close-ups, a ton of medium shots, and his staging of action (what little action there is) is stodgy. Beton decides to end Confession with a Mexican standoff (because no one seems to want to leave that darn house of worship). He doesn't even show said standoff so you the viewer are left to imagine it.
If you want to see a flick shot in real time that allures you more and has a true reason for being, then check out 2001's Tape as opposed to Confession. And if you want to view a pic that's roughly shot in one setting where the violence stings better, than Reservoir Dogs is more the go-to. Overall, Confession is a mixed divulgence.
So let's get this out of the way shall we. Confession takes place in a church. And the church as old-world as it looks, is the film's only set location. That'd be great if the gaffer turned the lights on once in a while. And that'd also be great if the characters resonated with me (but they didn't). With the exception of veteran actor Colm Meaney, all the pawns came off as cliches in every thriller I can think of.
Confession stars Stephen Moyer, Meaney, and Clare-Hope Ashitey. They respectively play an undercover cop, a priest, and I guess a bad cop. Their scenes wear you out for they "confess" and explain themselves too much. Confession at 90 minutes, is almost slowed down to a creep. There may be a twist or two in the dialogue but it all feels like it's headed nowhere.
Confession is oddly directed by the unseasoned David Beton. David's look is dark and banal. He uses a few close-ups, a ton of medium shots, and his staging of action (what little action there is) is stodgy. Beton decides to end Confession with a Mexican standoff (because no one seems to want to leave that darn house of worship). He doesn't even show said standoff so you the viewer are left to imagine it.
If you want to see a flick shot in real time that allures you more and has a true reason for being, then check out 2001's Tape as opposed to Confession. And if you want to view a pic that's roughly shot in one setting where the violence stings better, than Reservoir Dogs is more the go-to. Overall, Confession is a mixed divulgence.
Excellent
GoldenGooner0414 February 2023
It's not a long film, but it seems in this day and age if there is:
No Sex
No Car chases
Only violence is near the end
people call it boring or not very good
This "play" is just about Pure Acting, it's a clever story I did not have a clue what the twists were going to be
Stephen Moyer (True Blood) and Colin Meaney (DS9) just act their socks off. It's a film which you have to sit and listen to every word. It's not a film, where u can have on in the background, you can't pop in and out of it.
You have to watch the whole 80mins and use your brain, not like with most films of this day and age....
You have to watch the whole 80mins and use your brain, not like with most films of this day and age....
Not all bad
ImdbAllowsLeftwingExtemistBots28 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
It's not as terrible as the other two reviews. It's definitely at watchable level but there are some cringingly unwatchable scenes because the woman in this cannot act at all which pairs especially badly with the unrealistic phone dialogue and the terribly shooting scene.
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