Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

onlyjared "Nobody in chains ever soared up to the sun"This film is a considerably underrated yet imperfect exercise in style filmmaking. The most important element in creating a film in this genre is how effectively the director can engineer the creepiness and mystery factor and IMO Adams definitely succeeds in pulling it off here. It's clear that he grafted some of the directoral techniques of David Lynch in many of the films early sequences....Madeline Stowe says as much in the actor interviews on the DVD. Much of the film's skillfully accomplished eeriness is greatly enhanced by the soundtrack which is a solid 10.Stowe was the perfect choice for the mother as much of her acting skill comes from her gifted ability to convey strong emotion nonverbally but merely through her facial expressions. Just watching her you truly believe this is a woman in a complete state of panic. Norman Reedus was also exceptional as the tow truck driver with a stoic icy demeanor who manipulates the audience into a context of uncertainty about his intentions. ************ Spoiler Alert *****************The film started to become very interesting during the scene inside the tanker truck where the dark highway sequences suddenly blend into a lofty dreamlike club atmosphere with the Orbital soundtrack pounding away giving the impression that this cult is most at home when they're on the highway.It is true, as some of the other reviewers point out, that the only real let-down in the film was the ending. It was too abrupt and should've been more developed. It would have been well served by an additional 10-15 minutes of good writing.The entire film was shot in Luxembourg so nothing about the highway sequences looks familiar.

ashleynwaldron I watched this movie only because I'm a huge Norman Reedus fan, and this was one of the few movies of his I hadn't seen.One of the biggest problems with this movie was the pace. It spends forty minutes just showing Senga (mom) and Nat (daughter) bickering and arguing, which definitely does nothing to endear Nat to the audience. Then it briefly picks back up... only to slow down again. This definitely isn't something I'd watch on TV, just because I probably ended up skipping through an hour of this hour and forty five minute long movie.Another problem was actually -and I hate to say it- Norman Reedus's character of the 'Recovery Man'. He pulls the role off well, but... well, there really wasn't enough of a role for him to do much with. He follows the group along, okay, so far so good... But then you get the impression that he's been following them for years as a tow-truck driver, but never gets anywhere, and just happens along Senga and Nat, and decides to sort of follow them, but not really. Then finally at the end, just as his character starts to get sort of interesting, boom. Movie over.Also, as far as this being a horror, or thriller... There really was no substance to it at all. There's nothing remotely scary, or even chilling. The camera work was amazing, and did give off a creepy vibe, but the story itself was... very blagh, is the only thing I can think of.Normally, I would say not bad for it's genre, but again, it really doesn't fit into a genre... Comparatively speaking, it wasn't horrible (especially compared to some of the trash passing itself off as good cinema lately) but it just didn't do anything for me. Again, it was more of a 'when is something interesting going to happen?' rather than 'what's going to happen?'.

Paul Andrews Octane starts late one night as Senga Wilson (Madeleine Stowe) is driving her daughter Natasha (Mischa Barton) home, en-route they have a big argument at a rest stop & Natasha storms off in a mood with some people in a camper-van. Senga thinks Natasha has been kidnapped & tries to get the police involved but they don't believe her, Senga decides to pursue the camper-van on her own in an attempt to get her daughter back...Known under the title Pulse on DVD in the US this English Luxembourg co-production was directed by Marcus Adams & if truth be told it's a bit of a mess but it's an intriguing mess which I actually enjoyed watching even if it did leave me somewhat frustrated. Stephen Volk who wrote the script has apparently gone on record as saying Adams re-wrote large parts of it, changing important plot points & altering character's so maybe that accounts for some of it's faults. On a basic level as the viewer I found Octane quite intriguing, it has an engaging premise full of mystery which is supposed to keep us guessing until the very end which to be fair it does but unfortunately it also keeps you guessing after the end because after a good 60 odd minutes it all falls apart & the ending is a bit of jumbled up mess. Who the people are that took Natasha is never fully revealed, why they carry around flasks of blood is never made clear either, why they are trying to seduce Natasha in wind tunnel in a huge car factory is seemingly put in there at random & makes no logical sense to anything. Then there's the odd revelation that the Father knows that Senga tried to abort Natasha while she was pregnant, how did he know this? The whole film feels like it's only half finished, there are some good ideas here which are just either left hanging in the air or never expanded upon in any satisfactory way. It's a bit of a mess but it's a mess I quite liked, had all the ideas been fleshed out better in a more coherent script Octane could have been great but as it is it isn't.Director Adams films with style & Octane looks good but he should have spent a bit more time on sorting his script out so it made sense. There's no gore here apart from a scene when someone pierces their bellybutton & when someone slices their own tongue with a razor blade, there's no nudity either. At under 90 minutes it short enough & I liked the character's but in the end there's too many unanswered questions which left me frustrated & annoyed. The musical score was provided by Paul & Phil Hartnoll collectively better known as Orbital.With a supposed budget of about $11,500,000 this was a well funded film & it's very well made with high production values. Set in America but filmed in Luxumbourg, nothing quite looks or feels right in that respect. The acting is alright, Stowe is particularly good in this.Octane is probably one of those love it or hate it films for most people, it will either capture your imagination & you will love it or it will leave you so frustrated & annoyed you'll hate it. Just to totally contradict myself I'm probably between the two, I was impressed with the ideas behind it & how it unfolds but was left disappointed by a terrible ending which makes little sense.

Stephanie Gilleland The film itself was not bad and mildly entertaining but it could have been so much more. I hate to see the start of good storyline turn into a big mess.The cast was quite versatile and fit the character profiles well. The dialogue was quite cheesy in parts and a few of the 'extras/characters' (i.e. the black female cop) acted horrifically. *Jonathan Rhys Myers is so hot no matter what he's in but especially as a bad boy so he automatically bumped my rating up a star. * The beginning premise of the story, mother and daughter with a dysfunctional relationship get caught up in a dangerous cult on a road trip home was quite promising and the beginning 10 minutes were quite enthralling. After that everything unravelled. Several instances happened in the next hour and a half that made no sense and were never explained. I mean I guess you could make up your own conclusions but you had no idea who the cult was, the history behind them, what the ultimate goal was for the cult and what the hell was the last half hour being in a research lab all about?! You don't want a story line being obvious but you at least want a foundation to start on before you begin fantasizing about the rest.There were just way too many questions unanswered that made the last 30 mins seem quite ridiculous and badly written.Not a bad flick overall but I wouldn't put it at the top of your rental list.