Deserves its success

Rating: 8/10 (3 August 1999)

I think it's the snuff film aspect of the exercise that's most captivating - the psychological verisimilitude inherent in the working method, coupled with the knowledge (from the opening caption) that there will be no happy ending, marks it as a morbidly voyeuristic exercise - but with a contemporariness that lends itself to a bandwagon and to mainstream respectability. The characterizations are well-judged, with the initial hubris of Heather's leadership providing the perfect springboard for the tensions that explode as their situation worsens - I didn't detect many false notes in it. It pushes all the buttons while remaining open to ambiguity and alternative interpretations, and on the whole seems to me to deserve its success for its fresh but respectful approach to the genre.