An oil rig is a terrific setting for an atmospheric drama: isolation, heaving sea-swell, lashing rain, howling wind. However, most of this takes place in corridors or dismal interiors.
The outdoor scenes are shot in a studio (understandably, for practical reasons) - and there's no reason why you can't recreate the outdoors in a studio - but in this the actors are standing on a helideck, supposedly in the north sea, with hardly a breath of wind, a drop of rain or barely any wind or sea sounds. There's a scene with two guys climbing a tower which has been done umpteen times on youtube with go-pros to terrifying effect. Here it looks like what it is - two actors climbing a studio prop.
Which wouldn't be a dealbreaker if it had compelling characters but we've seen these ones too often: the feisty female, the bolshy older "anti-authority" bloke etc. The "banter" between workmates doesn't ring true and and there's not a lot of reason to care about these characters, and not enough plot happening to paper over the lack of character development.
Which is a shame because it's a good idea and could have been a neat homage to Carpenter's "The Thing," yet one with its own identity. Disappointing.
The outdoor scenes are shot in a studio (understandably, for practical reasons) - and there's no reason why you can't recreate the outdoors in a studio - but in this the actors are standing on a helideck, supposedly in the north sea, with hardly a breath of wind, a drop of rain or barely any wind or sea sounds. There's a scene with two guys climbing a tower which has been done umpteen times on youtube with go-pros to terrifying effect. Here it looks like what it is - two actors climbing a studio prop.
Which wouldn't be a dealbreaker if it had compelling characters but we've seen these ones too often: the feisty female, the bolshy older "anti-authority" bloke etc. The "banter" between workmates doesn't ring true and and there's not a lot of reason to care about these characters, and not enough plot happening to paper over the lack of character development.
Which is a shame because it's a good idea and could have been a neat homage to Carpenter's "The Thing," yet one with its own identity. Disappointing.