With the one-year anniversary of her husband’s death approaching, Amy Carr (Naomi Watts, The Loudest Voice) is doing her best to keep it together for her young daughter Emily (Sierra Maltby) and teenaged son Noah (Colton Gobbo, Ginny & Georgia). But over the past year, Noah has grown angry and distant, and Amy wonders if her son still even loves her. Amy decides to take the day off and go for a jog in the woods to clear her head, but after being constantly barraged by calls from her coworker, mother, mechanic and others, she decides to silence her phone. However, after seeing some cop cars whiz by, she suddenly gets an emergency alert that there is some kind of incident that has put her son’s school on lockdown. Miles away from home, the school and any form of transportation, Amy is now desperately trying to make her way back home, get the details on what is happening, and find out if her son is OK, but her texts and calls to Noah go unanswered, and calls to 911, the police, and friends only cause her concerns to increase.

The Desperate Hour is a tense, emotional thriller that pretty much unfolds in real-time, following the most terrify hour in a mother’s life as she desperately races against time to save her son. Even though she is exhausted, injured, and armed only with her cell phone, Amy will stop at nothing to find and help her son—she will not lose another family member! I was quite impressed by this film, and especially by Naomi Watts’ performance. For nearly the entire film, she is the only actor on screen, delivering a strong, emotional performance, conveying the grief this widow and mother experiencing, and keeping you invested in what’s going on, despite the fact that her only scene partners are Siri and voices coming from the phone. In a way, I was kind of reminded of Phone Booth, where somehow a single person in a single location for much of the film just works, and can still be tense, exciting and emotional. Also, early on in her jog, Amy stumbles a bit and injures herself—throughout the rest of film, Watts does an excellent job with her physical performance, making you feel and believe this pain and struggle that Amy is fighting through as she continues to run to make it back to her son.

Everything takes place in a single day in September in a small Northern town. The day starts off serene as Amy runs through the beautiful Fall-colored woods, thinking about her husband while looking over the flowing waters of the stream. But this tranquility is interrupted as her focus becomes desperately trying to get back to her son. The film’s real-time nature, tense score, and handheld cameras help to amp up the tension of the situation. Even though much of the film finds Amy running through the woods, it somehow remains completely engaging, switching things up with some picturesque overhead drone shots, as well as Amy using her phone to seek assistance, or to channel her inner Nancy Drew to figure out what’s going on. She is also constantly checking live newscasts, and using her AR map to try to find a faster way to her son. While some of the things that happen may be a bit far-fetched, I still found it riveting and was completely hooked and entertained, anxiously waiting to see how the story was going to end.

Vertical Entertainment’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great. The picture is clean and clear throughout, and captures the beauty of the natural Fall setting. There is a great level of detail, especially in close-ups of faces. The footage from the phone is also nicely integrated into the picture in a way that feels natural and not just CG. There are a couple moments where Amy is running the the picture gets a bit shaky and less clear, but I never found this too distracting. The audio track makes excellent use of the surround channel to add the immersive ambiance of nature, as well as some echoes in Amy’s head in one scene. Also, the many phone conversations sound full and clear. The Blu-ray disc comes packed in standard HD keepcase with a carboard slipcover. The release does not include any bonus material, or a digital copy.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:24:20)

• 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
• Audio: English 5.1 Surround DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 Stereo DTS-HD Master Audio
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

This release contains no bonus material.

Final Thoughts:

The Desperate Hour is a solid and engaging emotional thriller, with an excellent lead performance by Naomi Watts, who is pretty much a one-woman-show for the majority of the film. The tense score and real-time nature of the story help build the tension as the viewer is thrown some curveballs. The technical presentation of the Blu-ray release is excellent, but unfortunately there is no supplemental martial. That said, the release still comes recommended based on the quality of the film/Watt’s performance alone.