When it becomes too apparent at the start of a thriller what the mystery and/or twist will be in the third act, the film will become reliant on the journey being more interesting than the destination. Unfortunately, in the case of Blackwater Lane, there’s little to be said for either. This is a rather dull mystery that most will be able ot guess the twist within the first fifteen minutes. Without an engaging lead, you’re left to enjoy nothing but the view, which is thankfully quite good here with a big mansion and a picturesque locale off the beaten path.
Cass (Minka Kelly) sees a woman in a car on the side of the road at night, and the following morning, it’s revealed that someone killed the woman. Soon after, she begins seeing and hearing strange things within her home, and she’s left trying to make sense of reality between her husband (Dermot Mulroney) and best friend Rachel (Maggie Grace). And it doesn’t help her situation when a detective (Natalie Simpson) is knocking on her door, thinking she might have been involved in the murder.
The problem isn’t that the twist is obvious; it’s that Minka Kelly isn’t very engaging as the lead, Cass. She’s not unlikable, she’s just not very interesting. And when there are so many elements of the characters’ past and personality kept as a mystery to help make the main twist work – even though it won’t because we’ll all guess it early – she’s left disadvantaged as an actress anyway, having to play a character who isn’t allowed to show much of their hand. It’s almost worse to say I wasn’t rooting against or for her; I didn’t really care. When Dermot Mulroney is also delivering such a yawn of a performance for the sake of helping sell the mystery for audiences, you also begin to wonder why anyone would have married the man.
The only actor doing anything worth watching in Blackwater Lane is Maggie Grace, who appears as someone who presents as a real human being, at least.
Blackwater Lane’s other positive is the cinematography and production design. The on-location scenes in England and the mansion where a lot of the film takes place look stunning, thanks to Felix Cramer.
(Screener provided to Explosion Network.
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