Trailers are so 2009. Welcome to the future of film marketing as Anchor Bay releases the first five minutes of The Disappearance of Alice Creed onto the interwebs! Yeah, I know it’s not the first film to market itself this way (hell, Wolverine upped the ante by releasing the entire film in advance), but it’s still an interesting move. Doubly so in this case as the lead actress is nowhere to be seen…
Now, aside from providing a damn good detailing of how to prepare for an abduction should you be so inclined, the film looks pretty interesting. Eddie Marsan is always gold and while I’m not really a fan of Gemma Arterton, I can put up with her in the confines of a well-made thriller. The focus appears to be on Alice’s attempts to escape and possibly manipulate her captors but I’m expecting some kind of twist from the outside world. I’ve only seen the video above, but I still suspect something along the lines of The Betrayed with Melissa George. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
The official synopsis is below:
Two men – one in his twenties, the other nearer forty, both intensely focused on the task at hand – line the inside of a transit van with plastic. Shopping, they buy a drill, a mattress and other supplies. In a small flat they assemble a bed for the mattress and staple foam insulation and board to the walls and windows of a bedroom. Then, their meticulous preparations complete, they kidnap a young woman. They drag her from the street into the back of the van and, with a bag over her head and ball gag in her mouth, take her back to the flat, tying her to the bed in the room they have converted into a prison cell.
The kidnappers are Danny (Martin Compston) and Vic (Eddie Marsan), two ex-cons planning to make a mint on the ransom for the young woman. The younger, nervier of the two, Danny defers to the more experienced Vic, who acts with a steely conviction. Their hostage is Alice Creed (Gemma Arterton), daughter of a rich businessman, chosen by Vic and Danny as their passport to a better life. Terrified and immobile at first, it soon becomes clear that Alice isn’t about to let her captors use her as capital without a fight. As determined to escape as Vic and Danny are to succeed, Alice enters into a battle of wills which strains the already fractious relationship between the two men. As the deadline for the exchange draws nearer, all three are brought close to breaking point, with Vic and Danny’s foolproof plan descending into a desperate struggle for survival.”
The Disappearance of Alice Creed opens in limited release on August 6th and premieres on VOD the same day.
What do you think of the opening five minutes? Are you interested in seeing Gemma Arterton tied to a bed? Pervert.
