Manda (Katharina Sporrer), daughter of rich banker Jennings (Hother Bondorff, voiced by Christopher de Courcy-Ireland) was supposed to marry a man of her father's choice, John (voiced by Adam Kitchen), but during their wedding party, she finally mustered up the courage to run away, skip town in a rental car still wearing her wedding dress - and ultimately wake up in the car's trunk, having been kidnapped by ... someone (Caspar Phillipson) whose motives she can't even begin to guess. For one, despite Manda's father being rich, he's not really interested in a ransom, and for the other, he even leaves her her phone to call whoever she likes - except for 911 of course. Thing is, he sees the whole kidnapping situation as a game of cat-and-mouse, believing himself to have the other hand no matter what. But Manda is as resilient as she's resourceful, and despite being caught in the trunk can find out pretty much everything about her kidnapper. One might even go so far as saying she's slowly winning the upper hand - but then her dad gets involved and things get messy ...

The Girl in the Trunk is pretty much a masterclass of economic filmmaking: Mostly the film is actually reduced to the titular girl in the titular trunk, there's little in other sets or locations than that, and even in the trunk the girl's movements are drastically reduced due to lack of space - and yet the film never gets boring. That's for one of course due to imaginative camerawork that uses every trick in the book to keep things visually stimulating while creating just the right feel of claustrophobia the story demands. But even more than that it's down to an extremely engaging script that revolves around interesting and fleshed out characters in a situation that oozes suspense, all wrapped up in sharp, often biting dialogue that keeps one on the edge of one's seat throughout. And of course, a powerful performance by Katharina Sporrer, who pretty much has to carry the film on her own, only helps to make this great thriller entertainment.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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