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Hidden Within
Zimbabwe 2023
produced by Daniel Lasker], Oscar K. Reyes], [Brashaad Mayweather] (executive) for [CrossLine Pictu, Oscar K. Reyes, Brashaad Mayweather (executive) for CrossLine Pictures
directed by Daniel Lasker
starring Anja Taljaard, Daniel Lasker, Lionel Strasky, Eddie Sandifolo, Nonka Mabaleka, Percy Soko, Maforty, Arthur Falko, Doug Bramsen, Roxanne Prentice, Dumie Manyathela, Natasha Dlamini, Avumile Qongo, Godwill Tasunga, Milcom Sibanda, Margie Rees, Stephanie Zevgolis, Buisiswe Ncube, and the voices of Tuks Tad Lungu, Tawanda Denga
written by Oscar K. Reyes, Daniel Lasker, music by Daniel Vega
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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Katheryn (Anja Taljaard) has been estranged from her father Rylond
(Lionel Strasky) for years, and has thus long moved to far away England -
but now that his health is getting poorly, she decides to pay him a visit
in his native Zimbabwe ... where she pretty much arrives just in time to
see him taken to the hospital, and it's not at all certain that he'll ever
come back. With little else to do, Katheryn decides to explore the family
mansion - and in the basement he finds a chained up young man, Cullen
(Daniel Lasker), who begs her to set her free ... but she's hesitant about
that, as she figures, her father, crazy as he was at times, must have had
good reason to lock and chain him up. So Katheryn does some research and
finds out he's the latest in a series of missing persons cases, a series
that actually started with her mother. Now logic would dictate that her
father had abducted her mother back when and chained her up, just like he
did with Cullen. But sometimes logic's not everything, as deep down in her
heart Katheryn just refuses to believe her father's a kidnapper and
possibly murderer. So eventually, she breaks into Cullen's apartment to
investigate his background, and finds a picture of her mother - which
totally freaks her out. With the picture she also finds a map with several
spots marked, and going digging at one of these spots, she finds a dead
body - which freaks her out even more. But at that time she receives a
call - from Cullen, who informs her he's holding her father's maid
Florence (Nonka Mabaleka) hostage, and to save her life she best sets him
free - and with that outbreak of violence from the previously rather
mild-mannered and soft-spoken Cullen, everything gets an entirely new
different meaning, Katheryn just doesn't know how different yet - how
different and dangerous, really ...
Hidden Within is a very cleverly written serial killer
mystery piece, especially because it doesn't give its game away till way
into the finale, and manages to surprise throughout while keeping things
flowing at a fast but not rapid pace, with an eye on both suspense and
atmosphere. And on top of that, Anja Taljaard, who's in pretty much every
scene of the movie, carries it rather nicely, and she has good, creepy
chemistry with Daniel Lasker. And all of this results in a pretty cool
genre ride.
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