A couple (Becky Scholtec, Lonnie Appleby) and their baby (Tensley Mack)
are on the way to visit his mother through a dark night when one of their
tires blows. When dad goes go fix it, he's apparently attacked and struck
down, and when mum comes to his rescue she sees his aorta has been slashed
on one of his legs. Now this is definitely something to cause concern as
he needs urgent surgery otherwise it is going to kill him before long even
with the best of precautions in place (and mom is a doctor). And yet,
dad's much more concerned that they all lock themselves inside the car
till sunrise, as there's something out there - and he's absolutely right,
as not soon afterwards, an armed man (James Lukenbill jr) who's apparently
in the know (without explaining any) wants to come to their rescue - but
is felled down despite his best precautions. From here on, it only can get
worse - and it does ... Reduced to no more than two locations
(inside the car, around the car) and a minimal cast (three and a baby), Helpless
is a skeleton of a thriller in more than one way: Basically it's whole
narrative is reduced to one suspense situation, with no subplots to speak
of, and also no (unnecessary) explanations given to what's going on.
Basically, the story boils down to "inexplicable and scary things
happen to a couple" - and as economically as this film is directed,
the concept works quite beautifully, not despite its narrative limitations
but because of them ... suspense at its most basic and finest!
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