Review
Horizon Line (Adventure, Thriller) (2020)
Director: Mikael Marcimain
Writer: Josh Campbell, Matt Steucken
Stars: Allison Williams, Alexander Dreymon, Keith David, Pearl Mackie
Together with her ex-boyfriend, a woman hitches a flight to a nearby island due to missing a boat ride after a romantic tussle. Unfortunate events make this a turbulent trip, as their reunion might be short-lived if they aren’t able to make a safe landing.
Previously known for predominantly Swedish films and TV projects, Marcimain provides an English-spoken feature that follows a strenuous survival in a Cessna Aircraft. With a narrow cast and a cramped location, it offers an unusual take with romantic undertones. Concluding a limited theatrical release in Sweden, it was mostly a video-on-demand title internationally. Filming took place in Mauritius, where it’s set to take place, with select scenes in Dublin, Ireland and in Pinewood Studios. It has been produced by SF Studios, Ombra Films and Subotica Films while also being distributed by SF Studios.
Sharing a romantic past on the island of Mauritius, Sara (Allison Williams) and Jackson (Alexander Dreymon) coincidentally cross paths again, as Sara visits the Island country to attend a friend’s wedding celebration. Their last meeting ended abruptly, embroiling them in a love-hate relationship that makes honest communication difficult, leading to a passionate transaction. Due to their wanton activities, Sara is unable to accompany the other guests on a boat ride to a nearby island where the actual wedding is taking place. Luckily, she knows a local pilot, her old confidant Freddy (Keith David), and to her surprise, her romantic fling joins them. On the flight, a medical emergency occurs, leaving Sara, with her limited flight training, to take command of the quickly deteriorating aircraft amidst uncontrollable weather. Forced to work together, they intend to find a safe island to land on, which proves more difficult than they had hoped.
Contained inside a Cessna 180 plane, ‘’Horizon Line’’ provides untold tension, both relationship-wise and in terms of survival. Focusing on fewer than a handful of characters makes it easy to follow the razor-thin narrative by the Swedish director.
After a brief glance at a doomed romantic relationship, this survival feature becomes a laborious love story set within a small aircraft in dire circumstances. Both seem poorly prepared to deal with their emotions, let alone be shoved into the role of being their own saviour. This jerry-built journey attempts a capable, adventurous and romantic allotment between interludes of amorous redemption, which could weaken the feature within its own sub-genre.
An unavoidable rekindling of emotion leading into an uneasy aeroplane ride through cloudy skies, with no chance of meatballs. It seems a metaphor for relationships, or perhaps we’re diving too far like the nose of the Cessna towards the watery depths. In reality, what needs to be decided is if ‘’Horizon Line’’ is as deep as the ocean below, or simply as shallow as a pond. The answer isn’t as obvious, despite what the script might imply. To expect gripping narratives, you’ll be left underserved, yet twinklings of storytelling and coarse performances by Dreymon, better known for his role as Uthred in ‘’The Last Kingdom’’ garner some intrigue aside from sincere moments of reminiscing between Williams’ Sara and David’s Freddy, providing a quaint backstory. Once the true predicaments make themselves apparent, it is a cacophony of tension as blissful seconds of drama between Sara and Jackson are short-lived, giving way to more high-tension butt-ins. Perhaps, after all, there is some truth to the musings opening this paragraph and the pair of lovebirds; the moments of joy are orgasmic, but you know that cannot last long.
Trying to weave together varying themes, ‘’Horizon Line’’ pretends to be more than a cheap thrill. As the narrative itself is insufficient to lure the viewer into the plane’s fuselage, their unreal attempts to see the next horizon in this situation become unbearable. ‘’Horizon Line’’ hopes to provide a romantic redemption that nobody is really interested in due to underdeveloped characters that never do enough to engage the viewer, when your mayfly of a pilot is the most interesting conversationalist in the entire feature; Something is wrong, throwing on tension to make sure the viewer is awake.
Verdict
Just short of the horizon.
4,0
