Honestly, thrillers aren't really my go-to genre of film, but Firecracker is absolutely brilliant. For me, the whole film had the perfect balance of suspense and drama along with well placed humour and sometimes absolute raw emotion.
The casting was excellent - Kate Sheridan is absolutely brilliant as perhaps the most complex character. She delivers so many different sides to her character Matilda and it's an absolute pleasure to watch. Andrew Lee Potts is excellent also as Jack, the half of the "dangerous duo" who had a lot of layers - he plays a conflicted, likeable baddie really well!
Eloise Lovell Anderson as Lena was a downright terrifying psychopath (and she should take that as a compliment!) - she really made the suspense shoot up, I was on the edge of my seat for the majority of the film. While not the most layered character for me, she was definitely the scariest and was excellently portrayed in her essential role in the film. Not every character needs to be complex, and she was absolutely brilliant as the darkest character, and sometimes delivered some dark humour too, even just in her body language.
I loved seeing Jason Flemyng right at the start, one of my all time favourite actors (along with Andrew) and enjoyed his role as the detective, the softness he portrayed towards the end was a nice touch for the audience as a way to wind down after the thrill ride of the main part of the story. I also cheered when I saw Nick Moran pop up on screen - as my favourite film is Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, it was really great to see Tom and Eddie back on screen together, even if they didn't share a scene. As always, Nick played a brilliant baddie!
The use of a small(ish) and simple setting - the majority of the film sees only three characters in one mostly empty house - is done with great skill and attention to detail. No part of the set is left unused (even the loft) - it's so creative and interesting, and the layout of the house and how it's used just adds to the suspense of the film. The house itself is a main character, which is something I really like in a film. It reminded me a bit of a play, with a closed set and nowhere for the characters to escape from the audience, so you feel like you're really in there with them.
The emotion in the film was also really well done - I found myself in floods of tears towards the end as I cared about the characters and felt like I really knew them, and it was wonderful to lose myself in the emotion while the story was wrapping up. I don't want to give any spoilers, but I absolutely loved the ending to Ruth's little side story, played wonderfully by Linda-Jean Barry.
I loved the comedy moments too - there was some good physical comedy I felt as well as some excellent dialogue. The police officers made me laugh out loud (I won't be able to see the blue lights now without cracking a smile)
There are no spoilers in this review, but the twists were absolutely brilliant. Some of them I guessed but some of them I really didn't see coming. I'm already looking forward to a rewatch so I can see if I can spot some foreshadowing earlier on!
Overall the film was brilliant - maybe a little slow to build up to what's going on, but it does build the suspense when you're not too sure what's going on but you're finding out along the way. However the line (not a spoiler as it's literally the first line) "Matilda Watson's dead" really hooks you in and so much suspense is generated by constantly wondering how and when she dies. It was an absolutely genius move.
Firecracker is a rollercoaster of emotions - one minute you're on the edge of your seat, then you're laughing, then you're wanting the bad guys to get caught, then you're crying, then you're wanting the bad guys to succeed... it played with the audience's emotions in just the right way, just as a well written, directed and acted film should do. In my opinion, Firecracker is an absolute perfect example of fantastic independent filmmaking. I'll eagerly await the next production from Keychain!
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