A disappointment

Rating: 5/10 (7 July 2006)

*Spoilers* The first act, quite rightly, is a slow moving affair that tries to set the scene and introduce the characters. Unfortunately, characterisation is virtually non-existent. The main characters are broad, unengaging, stereotypes that the audience may find it hard to believe in and root for. The main idea, that there is a place where the rich and jaded can go to inflict suffering on their fellow man, is an interesting one, but themes about the nature of man and his place in society are not developed. Instead you are left watching someone you don't know very well, and don't care about, in a nasty, one-dimensional, situation. The inventiveness and grittiness of the torture scenes is to be applauded but it almost seems like a waste of effort. The final nail in the coffin is a forced, contrived and deeply unlikely finale that leaves you wishing a better writer had been given the task of fleshing out the genuinely interesting premise.