A minimalist kidnap thriller, David Barker’s 2010 “Daylight” is genre filmmaking retooled as mood piece, even if it takes an errant hitchhiker to set trouble in motion. A New York couple—the woman pregnant—is hijacked on the way to a wedding. Threats ensue in the confines of a country house. Understated yet unnerving, the film’s rhythms are snakily suspenseful, drawn from looks and the looks of things as much as mysteries of motivation. Landscape and distance tell as much as proximity. Don’t get close. With the very effective Alexandra Meierhans, Ivan Martin, Michael Godere. 75m. (Ray Pride)
“Daylight” opens Friday at Facets. A trailer is below.
Ray Pride is Newcity’s film critic and a contributing editor to Filmmaker magazine.
His multimedia history of Chicago “Ghost Signs” will be published soon. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram as Ghost Signs Chicago. More photography on Instagram.
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