Lisa McVey is an extraordinary woman. Of that there's no question after one has seen this film. Under the most brutal, horrific, challenging circumstances, she had the presence of mind to think through what she could best do to get herself out, and/or to get the perpetrator caught.
This movie is not equal to Lisa McVey, and is less than she deserves. It is pedestrian in it's making, it is uninterested in what makes McVey brilliant, and it wallows a little too much in the horror of her situation. A better film might try to delve into what made McVey who she is but what "Believe Me" wants to do is simply show us the glum, repulsive horror of what she went through again and again. The film is restrained enough to never engage in nudity, or otherwise voyeuristically fetishise McVey in captivity but its relentless insistence on piling up violation after violation of this young woman begins to feel like it's the film's raison d'être.
When the film switches over to the investigation, it truly drops to sub-par levels. It no longer even has the awe in which we hold McVey to marvel at. It becomes plodding, and predictable.
Throughout the acting is awful, and the dialogue is risible. This is the kind of movie where a grizzled police officer strokes his chin, looks into the distance, and says "we won't crack this case until we get a witness", and the movie cuts not-so-subtly to McVey.
Katie Douglas gives it her all as McVey but the material simply isn't there for her to play beyond terror. David James Elliot is plain wooden as the lead detective. Strangely, Rossif Sutherland comes out best as the perpetrator - he displays a vicious cruelty that he leavens later with enough flashes of desperation and patheticness to make us believe in him.
Fans of "The X-Files" will be particularly disappointed to see that, after the events of the show, Agent Spender eked out a living as second banana in a Florida police station.
I can understand admiring this film as a proxy for admiration of Lisa McVey but the two are very separate. One is a hero, and one deserves to be utterly forgotten.
This movie is not equal to Lisa McVey, and is less than she deserves. It is pedestrian in it's making, it is uninterested in what makes McVey brilliant, and it wallows a little too much in the horror of her situation. A better film might try to delve into what made McVey who she is but what "Believe Me" wants to do is simply show us the glum, repulsive horror of what she went through again and again. The film is restrained enough to never engage in nudity, or otherwise voyeuristically fetishise McVey in captivity but its relentless insistence on piling up violation after violation of this young woman begins to feel like it's the film's raison d'être.
When the film switches over to the investigation, it truly drops to sub-par levels. It no longer even has the awe in which we hold McVey to marvel at. It becomes plodding, and predictable.
Throughout the acting is awful, and the dialogue is risible. This is the kind of movie where a grizzled police officer strokes his chin, looks into the distance, and says "we won't crack this case until we get a witness", and the movie cuts not-so-subtly to McVey.
Katie Douglas gives it her all as McVey but the material simply isn't there for her to play beyond terror. David James Elliot is plain wooden as the lead detective. Strangely, Rossif Sutherland comes out best as the perpetrator - he displays a vicious cruelty that he leavens later with enough flashes of desperation and patheticness to make us believe in him.
Fans of "The X-Files" will be particularly disappointed to see that, after the events of the show, Agent Spender eked out a living as second banana in a Florida police station.
I can understand admiring this film as a proxy for admiration of Lisa McVey but the two are very separate. One is a hero, and one deserves to be utterly forgotten.