Peter Bradshaw 

Retreat – review

A neat, tense thriller from a first time director that provides a decent role for Jamie Bell, writes Peter Bradshaw
  
  

Still of Cillian Murphy as Martin in Retreat.
No going forward ... Retreat Photograph: Magnet Films

Here is a workmanlike suspense thriller directed and co-written by newcomer Carl Tibbetts. Cillian Murphy and Thandie Newton play an anxious couple making a tense return to an utterly secluded island; this is to be a "retreat" for them, a place to heal their emotional wounds. The CB radio which is their only means of contacting the mainland goes dead, and then they encounter a sinister stranger played by Jamie Bell, who has a terrifying story to tell. Is it the truth? Or is it a manipulative lie? This is a neat, well-crafted three-hander, making good use of its location; it really is a meaty role for Bell, who lets rip in what might be his most eye-catching part since Billy Elliot.

 

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