Cinema review
Directed by Stuart Gordon
Starring Mena Suvari, Stephen Rea, Russell Hornsby
Release date 9 January 2009

Following a night of boozing and pill-popping, nursing assistant Brandi (Suvari) accidentally hits homeless man Thomas (Rea) with her car. Rather than dialling 911, however, she panics and drives home with her victim still stuck in the windscreen – where she proceeds to leave him for several days while she figures out what to do next…

Helmed by Re-Animator’s Stuart Gordon, Stuck is both a damning indictment of today’s society, and a cracking movie to boot.

A gory (often wincingly so) thriller, as opposed to an out-an-out horror, the film manages to sustain interest throughout its 94 minute running time, despite basically having only the one idea to play with (that of a hit-and-run where the very-much-alive victim unwittingly ends up coming along for the ride).

Suvari and Rea are, as you would expect, excellent, while Hornsby provides able comic relief as an enterprising (if incompetent) drug dealer. The film’s only problem is that the characters are so unlikeable, it’s impossible to sympathize with their respective predicaments. In fact, everyone’s so utterly heinous you can’t help but cheer as events turn from bad to worse to hellish for all involved. But perhaps that’s the point… Kate Lloyd

VERDICT: 7/10
A clever idea, interestingly told. Definitely a ride worth taking, as long as you can handle the gore.