Held (2020)

(On Cable TV, November 2021) For the past few days, I’ve been overdosing on single-location horror films featuring a cast of a handful… so it’s not an exaggeration to say that I wasn’t particularly happy with Held, as it featured, once again, a minimal cast in a single house. The action gets going when a married couple on a last-ditch getaway wakes up to find themselves implanted with pain-causing implants, and led by a mysterious voice (and some electroshocks) through a sadistic couple’s therapy. Even the dullest viewers will notice that the “therapy,” especially at its bloody climax, only serves the husband’s interest — leading to an entirely expected third-act twist tying Held to The Stepford Wives. It’s not a terrible film — some images are quite nice, and there’s an effective element of set decoration (especially accompanying the twist) that shows that, from a technical perspective, the filmmakers are on to something. Alas, this is not always reflected elsewhere, and looking at the cast and crew does offer a clue: Of the three featured cast members, Jill Awbrey wrote the script, Travis Cluff co-directed and yet Bart Johnson is the most likable actor of the three of them. Awbrey’s lack of screen charisma aside, I’m very disappointed by her script — by the time the obvious twist is confirmed, the film stops making any effort as we default to the woman (an adulteress, the reasons for which are not really explored) being the plucky heroine in mortal danger and the husband flipping personalities to be a complete psychopath. (Plus, an infomercial to drive the point that, in this film’s reality, all men are complicit and no one ever notices women featuring rictuses of mortal terror.)  I can appreciate a good feminist thriller any day of the week, but you have to put some effort into it rather than lazily fall back on familiar genre tropes, and there’s a sense that Held is conceptually slapped together with clichés and received ideas that are never questioned. Even a better ending wouldn’t have excused the awkward first act, or the tediously repetitive second act. In the end, Held still manages to avoid complete failure, but it stays obnoxious in how it claims righteousness without earning it.