Hippopotamus
“Hippopotamus” is an intense thriller that revolves around playing mind games with an individual in order to survive being kept as a prisoner in a room that only has a mattress, a sink, and a toilet. It’s unnerving and creepy while being equally intriguing at the same time. One room. Two characters. One objective. It doesn’t get much more basic in terms of story and it keeps the viewer on edge; not knowing who to trust as the story slowly unravels and reveals intentions from both of the characters involved.
The film opens on Ruby waking up suddenly. She can’t walk. Her tendons in her knees have been cut and she’s bandaged up. An ominous voice speaks somewhere in the room. His name is later to be revealed Tom and he tells Ruby he kidnapped her until she’s able to fall in love with him. He drugs her everytime she begins to remember certain stuff that makes Ruby lose trust in him. Interesting enough, they begin to bond as Ruby goes with it. As the story progresses it leaves the viewer wondering what’s going to happen next. Each character has flaws and at times Tom becomes really convincing that he’s not insane. Without saying anything else, this film has twists and the filmmakers play with our minds just as Tom tries to play with Ruby’s and vice versa. It’s dark. It’s engrossing. And it’s good.
One of the things that really helped this piece was the performance of the characters given from the actor and the actress. They had a chemistry between them that helped the tension throughout the entire film. It seems like these two went to great lengths to achieve a believable performance and I can’t really see anybody else playing those parts because these two got so much into character.
Another thing that really helped give this film a lot of tension was the use of one location. Wherever this room was that Ruby wakes up in is the primary location we get to witness these two interact with one another. There’s only so much (you’d think) that you’d be able to achieve in one location and the filmmakers surpassed that expectation and made it much more intriguing than anticipated. With the help of creative editing montages and beautifully lit shots that slowly reveal these intentions I spoke of earlier, this room becomes a character in its own way and one we become extremely familiar with. You never know where the camera placement is going to be or what’s going to happen next.
That being said, I think it’s appropriate to give credit where it’s due and give a round of applause to the director, Edward Palmer, for making this one creepy ride that I didn’t want to get off. I needed to see the light at the tunnel or have a satisfying ending which this delivers in all regards. The pacing of the ride is slow and steady and it only goes uphill before a resolution is even presented.
If you like high intensity psychological thrillers, watch this. Now. For being low budget, the cast and crew made this seem like it was a high budget. Watch it for the thrills, for the visuals, and for the performances because everything about it is well done.
